My tripod has two bubble levels. It is pretty straightforward to set up. The manual says that if the telescope is on the west side, there should be a slight imbalance toward the counterweight side. I plan on eventually doing one to five minute exposures and then stacking them in software. I'm not sure if I'm going to go with the Canon EOS 10D or one of the SBIG cameras. I've been reading the June Sky and Telescope issue on digital astrophotography. It seems that the cooled CCD cameras would be better for my warm climate. The SBIG cameras also have auto-guider chips to make things easier. Don Colton is having pretty good luck with his camera. I'm going to start slow and experiment with my Nikon Coolpix 4500 camera first. Debbie