Compact digital cameras for astrophotography?

[starscy]

I am looking for a new compact digital camera that could also be used for astrophotography. Any suggestions?

[dph1nm]

If you mean afocally through a telescope then to be honest I don't think there are any ideal cameras nowadays. I have been looking for a while and just about given up.

What I think would make a good camera is a threaded lens, maximum F2 aperture, and a maximum exposure of 30secs (or more of course). A remote control would also be very handy.

A Canon with CHDK used to be a good bet, as this gives you long exposures (60sec or more) but very few of the current models will run it (yet). And they don't have threaded lenses. The new S90 does have an F2 lens though.

I suspect the Pansonic LX3 might work - but is is more expensive than a budget DSLR!

Some of the superzooms may be ok for just using without a scope - I was looking hard at the Panasonic FZ38, but I suspect it doesn't couple well afocally, which is what I really wanted it for. And the Olympus SP590 has a bulb mode I think.

NigelM

[astromerlin]

I was considering the Nikon coolpix 4300 camera as I can't afford a DSLR. As I image remotely I needed to have control of the camera from the computer and found this software that does.

Ruwebit | Snappixx v0.54 - Remote control for Nikon Coolpix cameras

Could be worth emailing to find if later cameras work with it. Afocal only though.