Good ccd??

[Zakalwe]

http://www.astronomycameras.com/products/usb/dmk21au618as/

Not sure if you hit "Post" before you typed a comment?

The DMK is a planetary camera (the same as the ZWO that you posted before). These cameras are not suitable for long exposure imaging of deep sky objects.

[Russe]

TBH - I would initially buy an astro modified CCD from cheapastrophotography:

http://m.cheapastrophotography.vpweb.co.uk/

This would start you off with postprocessing, which is the by far harder skill to learn than imaging. There's a lot of expensive gear in use producing rather mediocre images because people don't really know how to handle their data. I think rather than pushing people towards more and more expensive gear, we should help more on the postprocessing side until people see how far they can take their setup. I still think that jumping in at the deep end is counter productive. Beautiful images have been processed from normally priced setups.

Steve Richards has been mentioned. Can I add Lodriguss' guide to DSLR AP?

That's just my 50p worth...

[lensman57]

TBH - I would initially buy an astro modified CCD from cheapastrophotography:

http://m.cheapastrophotography.vpweb.co.uk/

This would start you off with postprocessing, which is the by far harder skill to learn than imaging. There's a lot of expensive gear in use producing rather mediocre images because people don't really know how to handle their data. I think rather than pushing people towards more and more expensive gear, we should help more on the postprocessing side until people see how far they can take their setup. I still think that jumping in at the deep end is counter productive. Beautiful images have been processed from normally priced setups.

Steve Richards has been mentioned. Can I add Lodriguss' guide to DSLR AP?

That's just my 50p worth...

You are quite right, but I  also think that the most important aspect of this AP buisness, forgetting the skill bit and the equipment for a moment, is the quality of the local sky. No amount of equipment or processing skill can compensate for light polluted sky with bad seeing. I have seen stunning images of the DSOs taken by quite accessible equipment from true dark sites and with what we would call short data. There is no substitute for a true dark site.

A.G