2x Barlow Lenses

[astromackem]

Afternoon all,

If I was to get a 2x Barlow lens to increase my top mag from 120x to 240x- would it matter on the quality? Or would any cheap one do? Also, does any 1.25" Barlow fit my 1.25" Skywatcher stock lenses?

Thanks

[MarsG76]

As with everything you get what you pay for.... personally I have the Celestron Ultima 2X Barlow, it's 1.25" and I'm very happy with it, the quality through it is great.

[Xiionn]

Any time you add glass or something else between you and the subject you are going to lose quality, that's just the nature of optics. However, a very good quality Barlow may not introduce quality loss noticeable to the naked eye.

It would also depend on the optical quality of the scope, if your scope limit is 200x mag, and you go to 240x then the quality loss would be due to your reaching and exceeding the limits of the optics in the scope itself. Think of that like a snooker ball, seems perfectly smooth until you magnify it a few hundred times, then its full of holes and mountains! As you approach and/or exceed the workable limits of the scope optics, the image will degrade more and more.

The Revelation 2.5x Barlow gets good reviews on here and elsewhere, so i bought one myself and i am quite pleased with it. It wasnt too expensive either compared to some other triple element  Barlows.

Finally, any 1.25 inch Barlow should fit your stock SW eyepeices.

[John]

The end quality of what you see is as good as the lowest quality item in the optical system. I can't recall the scope you have but 240x is pushing it with scopes less than 8" in aperture. Good quality barlows can work well but such quality has costs associated with it of course.

[glowjet]

One Author went as far as to say: poor quality Barlows are better off being used as door stops. If you are anticipating the purchase of such optical addition for your system, then invest in the best that your pocket will allow, there are some very good makes which people will mentioned, extending up to the TeleView Powermates, which are about as good as it gets, but there again, they cost as much as some complete scope systems

[ScottS]

The Revelation 2.5x Barlow gets good reviews on here and elsewhere, so i bought one myself and i am quite pleased with it. It wasnt too expensive either compared to some other triple element  Barlows.

This is a nice Barlow with compression fit for 1.25" EP's.

There is some debate in other threads as to whether it is actually closer to 2x as opposed to 2.5x, but it's of no great consequence to mere mortals like me.

I find it a useful collimation tool also, in combination with my laser.