Zoom + Powermate or barlow

[Oakbeard]

Is there a particular reason why I would not simply get a zoom piece and a powermate and be done with getting eyepieces?

[Louis D]

If you opt for a high end zoom such as a Leica or Zeiss, you might be on to something.  You'd still need a low power, wide field eyepiece because zooms aren't all that wide at the low end.

[Oakbeard]

Admittedly I was eyeballing what baader has to offer. My scope is a cute heritage 130p, I know that more aperture would be probably better over fancier ep's but space is at a premium in my apartment right now and I dont think that anything larger would have made the cut 

[Louis D]

I don't know if the Heritage 130's focuser and strut assembly is stout enough to resist the long moment arm of a Powermate and zoom eyepiece hanging off of it.  I'd start with an 8-24mm Vixen LV zoom clone as from Meade, Celestron, Skywatcher, Seben, etc.  See how you like it before getting the much more expensive Baader Hyperion Zoom (BHZ) which is still pretty cheap compared to the Leica, Zeiss, and Swarovski spotting scope zooms.

[Stu]

You could try one of the 7.2 to 21.5mm zoom clones like the OpticStar, coupled with a Baader x2.25 Barlow might be a combo suited to the Heritage in terms of weight and cost?

http://www.opticstar.com/Run/Astronomy/Astro-Accessories-Telescopes-Opticstar.asp?p=0_10_5_1_8_330

https://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/baader-planetarium-2.25x-q-barlow-lens-1.25.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4MjBnNiV5wIVgbTtCh2_WwaiEAQYAiABEgJoF_D_BwE