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people usually use their DSLR and a modified telescope to do such things. Ordinary lenses won’t be able to reach that far into the space.

Tripod… there are specialized tripod to do astrophotography – but it’s kinda expensive and quite complex to operate because in astrophotography you’re going to need to adjust your camera to follow the earth’s rotation.

Nebulae… well I doubt you can reach that far except if you have a large telescope such as found in observatories.

Good luck though.

You might want to ask that question again under astronomy. I’ve done limitted astrophotography with my cheap digital camera. I used an ordinary tripod. I agree with the other guy that you might want to consider a telescope with a T-mount instead of a regular camera lense. Here are a few ideas:
1. Make darn sure the camera has a "bulb" mode or remote control that will let you take pictures over a long time. My camera goes up to just 15 seconds and it’s just enough for the visible stars.
2. I’ve heard the time is about five minutes that you need to worry about the Earth’s rotation. I’m sure it depends on the magnification you use and the clarity you expect.
3. If you seriously want a planet, I don’t think there’s any regular lense that can help you. Even Venus will look like a bright dot unless you’ve got higher magnification than a $1000 lense will get you.
4. Rather than spending the whole $1000 on your first try, consider $335 for the Olympus SP-550UZ. It has an 18X optical zoom, which will help you get the moon at least. It takes pictures up to 8 minutes long, which will definitely be useful. It will save pictures in RAW format. I’m sure it’s not everything you want, but it might be a good way to start out without going broke.
5. Any sturdy tripod should work. Just get the cheapest one and start out with that.
6. Go to a star party and ask the people there.