I need advice?

[stepping beyond]

I'm thinking real hard about pulling the trigger on a Canon 350d rebel and bulb control cord, what do you know of this type of camera? Is it worth purchasing?

[DanL]

I use that camera - personally I would go for something a bit more recent that allows you to use a single usb for connection and has a more up to date sensor. It's do-able but I find the extra cord and cabling a bit of a pain. It was also a pain setting up drivers etc. because it's an old sensor. I found that I had to install windows 32-bit to make it work (virtual machine on my Macbook) I use Nebulosity for capture so again you will need to download the older digic compatible libraries for it and may struggle using it with other software due to it's age.

The upside - it should be pretty cheap and I removed the IR filter in mine. But again, that was no simple task and while there are detailed steps on the internet, it still took me a good four hours to do But it works pretty well now, esp. with my Astronimik CLS clip-in filter. Although I will be moving to CCD soon!

So the final answer? If it's cheap to buy and you're prepared to put in some effort to make it work, it will work. But don't expect it to be plug and play out of the box with the latest software.

[DanL]

Just to clarify... I'm not saying all software will have problems with it, but the software I wanted to use was awkward. Your mileage may vary but just be aware that if you do buy it, there may be a few gotchas along the way if something doesn't work as expected.

Once it's all set up and going, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it - other than the usual limitations of sensor noise and general issues of using any DSLR!