Barlow lens

[ApprenticeAstronomer]

Hi all,

How do you know when a Barlow is of good quality? I've been thinking of purchasing one as the one that came with my scope is no good; all am seeing with it is a blurry mass of light. Your help would be greatly appreciated.

[Tinker1947]

The Tal type are well spoken of.....

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/tal-eyepieces/tal-2x-and-3x-barlows.html

[Hitesh]

I agree the Tal Barlow is really good especially for the price

[ApprenticeAstronomer]

how do you know that they are a good quality Barlow? Is there something different about design or something?

[gurneyfan67]

A good quality Barlow will increase mag without darkening the image significantly. Also the coatings on the lens will not introduce any false color such as when viewing a bright object like a full Moon or bright planet.

[AndyH]

I was multitasking and brousing sgl and Tal's factory page when i read this thread. Maybe this'll be of interest?

Copied and pasted from Tal's factory page(npzoptics.com). Cleaned up the translation slightly.......

Barlow

Achromatic Barlow composed of cemented doublet. A 2x, 3x and 4x are available. The most popular barlow, the x2 (pictured - right), is included as a standard accessory with TAL telescopes and has a higher optical performance through the use of special lanthanum glass.

The x2 barlow can be transformed to a x3 with the addition of a spacing sleeve, placed between the barlow and eyepiece.

Andy

[nightfisher]

If you can get one the Tal x2 barlow is highly thought of

[Orange Haze]

Another vote here for the Tal x2. I have one and have been very impressed with the clarity of images through it. Been great on Saturn & Venus and for the price you can't really go wrong.

[Naemeth]

+1 for the TAL, it's always out-of-stock, so that should give you an idea on just how popular it is.

[Marki]

Another vote for the Tal x2 if you can get one, nice and clear image. I think it is better quality relatively than the Tal x3 barlow (at least to my tired old eyes ).

[mike.brightmore]

Even a mediocre Barlow should give you an image. It does sound as if you are not getting it in focus.