Apart from the arrival of less pricey full-frame digital SLRs, the other recent development that has impressed your correspondent is the way imaging chips are migrating from CCD (charge-coupled device) technology to CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor), used widely in the computer industry.
The imaging technology of the DV150F, a 16.2 Megapixel CCD sensor, F2.5 25mm bright lens and 5x optical zoom, deliver outstanding quality pictures that can then be shared instantly via Wi-Fi.
Together with an amateur astronomer friend from California, Mandel has traveled to Australia and set up a high-powered telescope, mount and CCD camera in Lee's own backyard observatory, which they've dubbed the Australian-American Imaging Station.