Upgrading dilemma

[herne]

Hi all,

I've been happily muddling my way through astrophotography (primarily DSOs) for a little while and the time has come to upgrade some of my old equipment.

For reference my current gear is an old Sony a500 DSLR (which can be a real challenge to work with); a simple Tamron 70-300mm f4-5.6 lens; and the AZ GTi mount + tripod with EQ wedge and updated firmware to use in EQ mode.  That's it, pretty much as basic as it gets.

The mount I'm pretty happy with - fun to use and nicely portable with a range of powering options from AA batteries to plug in power - so I want to focus on the lens/scope and camera to upgrade.  Budget is up to £1000.

So the dilemma: I can't be sure exactly how good or bad the Sony a500 is, although clearly there are better options out there.  So if I keep (for now) the Sony, I would discount buying a new lens as it seems pointless buying a new lens if the camera isn't really up to standard.  Therefore option a) becomes buy a new scope which I can attach the Sony to, see how it goes and upgrade the camera at a later date if need be.  Scopes are obviously in short supply at present but that to one side (and given weight constraints of the mount, 5kg) I'm looking at the SW 72ED or perhaps something from WO such as the Z61 (any other options?).  Accessories, such as a field flattener and filters, also need to be factored into the budget.  Guiding is not on the radar at present but something to consider in the future (again weight considerations notwithstanding).

(I had considered the SW 130pds but I think that's pushing the weight limits too far).

Option b) is to bite the bullet and upgrade the whole lot now (not the mount).  I could for example consider the Samyang 135mm f2 lens along with a new camera.  Or perhaps the 72ED / WO Z61 + new camera.  There are plenty of decent used DSLRs about (any specific recommendations?) which I could couple with either a lens or scope.  Alternatively - and this is perhaps where I could really use some advice - is to consider a dedicated astro camera coupled with a lens or scope.  This is something which does particularly peak my interest but I have zero knowledge about such things.  I don't even know if anything "decent" (which I appreciate is subjective) would be within budget.

There could of course be an option c) which I haven't yet considered.

Ultimately I would expect to use a guide scope / camera at some point in the future, so building the imaging set up now needs to have that in mind, especially when considering the AZ GTi weight limits.  Perhaps I would eventually also upgrade the mount, but that's a long way down the road.

I'm not out to win any photography prizes, I just want to continue having fun taking photos with a setup which is less frustrating to use (the Sony can really have me pulling my hair out at times) and gives me some better results.  Any advice, suggestions and opinions are more than welcome :).