I'm sure that a bridge camera would be the best solution, I'd been using Minolta SLRs for years and started digital with a Panasonic bridge camera. The image quality was fine until ISO numbers over about 800 and the 28 mm - 420 mm equivalent zoom lens (by Leica) was a great even used it for airshows. I now have a couple of Sony DSLRs using the Minolta AF lenses that I've acquired. A bridge camera is an ideal start unless of course to want to use film.

I agree but original post states "under high magnification" I assumed not normal sized image, only way to remove trails is by tracking

A DIY answer to star tracking is a 'barn door' mount made of 2 pieces of wood a hinge and a suitable bolt instructions for building on Google or You Tube. this is not accurate enough to completely eradicate trails but can give exposure times of several minutes. Not only stars but more faint objects can be imaged.

If you enlarge the image enough you will always get star trails until you reach the resolution limit of your sensor, the only way to avoid these is by using a guided mount with software such as PHD (Push Here Dummy). This will move the mount and the camera in the apparent direction of the star(s) when it detects that the image is drifting to the next pixel.

For a budget of £500 you could do worse than a used Sony Alpha of some sort say £250 these can use Minolta AF lenses which are in the main relatively cheap and of good quality second hand a couple of zooms would set you back say £200 leaving £50 for ancillaries. Reviews of these lenses (warts and all) are on a website called "Dyxum".

Not tried an XE-5 I've got an XE (Japanese version of XE-1 or 7) only just got it so not put any film through it yet I need to do light seals and re-cover it first.

Hi, I've been using Minolta gear since about 1975 when a guy in london Camera Exchange sold me an SRT101 with a 58mm f1.4 lens, not a bad introduction to photography with SLRs, since then I've got a copy of most manual focus Minoltas and two AF7000s and an AF9000 with a range of AF lenses, also two digital Sony bodies which use the same lenses.