RE: In a dead market you can pick up some real bargains
gotta love a bit of astrophotography !! nicely done and that's a lovely lens. 2 things you might want to take into account.. the rule of 500's .. <<< here's a link - and the speed (f-number) of the lens.
A fast short lens will allow you to expose longer, brighter shots before smear sets in.. the closer (longer focus) you get to the sky, the quicker the stars will move across your frame, thus the rule of 500's.
Stacking software can make a HUGE difference. I am a DSLR only astrophotographer while my friends use a big old 8 inch telescope. The advantage they have is an autoguide / tracking mount..which means they can follow the stars and take really long exposures. DSLR only users without a mount have to improvise with shorter exposures but stacking them can help create great results..
I use DeepSkyStacker which is free software. All you really need to remember is to take some dark shots in your session (with the lens cap on) and add them to the stack. the software will then be able to work out what is noise on your sensor..and read up a bit about stacking first.. it's trial and error really.
it takes a while to get your head around astrophotography... it took our astro group a couple of years experience to get really good shots and we live in a really light polluted London.. and British weather can make a well planned evening a total write off... but always in good company.
keep trawling for bargains - assemble some half decent equipment. a cheap (£10 from ebay) remote controller is one my favourite things. you can set it to automatically shoot a stack of images, (on a steady tripod) over a period of half an hour so and then you get great shots. you could actually buy a really cheap telescope 2nd hand on ebay, with a tracking mount included and put your camera on the tube.. I would if I had the space ! When we move house, I am planning on getting a decent telescope.
I've said too much cos your post excited me, but am more than happy to answer questions, if you have any
check out http://eggstronomy.tumblr.com
and this article I wrote a while ago on steemit about DSLR astrophotography
Thanks for all the great information @outerground that link on the 500 is the best explanation I have seen on this tricky topic.
I've been experimenting with various settings but this should make things a lot more precise.
The tracking mount that I'm thinking about is one that I could use for astrophotography and daytime time lapse.
I've got my son's remote control but haven't used it yet. I'm still getting my head around the basics of focusing. :-)
I heard about the stacking software from @astrophoto.kevin too. I'll give it a go on the next clear night.
Thanks again for the info much appreciated. Glad you liked this post. :-)