2nd hand Canon 350D - worth it?

[MattGoo]

I've been offered a 2nd hand Canon 350D (body only) by a colleague at work for £140. How good a deal is this?

The intention is to use it for DSO work on my SW 200P Explorer on a EQ5 with dual axis motors (soon to be webcam guided too).

I have a SPC900C for planetary work and not a lot of budget for a DSLR, would I be better saving up or seeing how I get on with the 350D first?

[themos]

I haven't seen them go for less than that. It's a fair price if it's in good working order. Problems with the 350D is the strong, uneven dark signal which will necessitate taking careful dark frames and the lack of Live View which will make focusing tricky. But for the same money as a new compact...

[malc-c]

Similar pricing on E-bay, with the 400D body only going for around £190. The lack of live view isn't a problem. I always use a Bahtinov mask to get focus on my 400D