Will a Barlow lens affect overall image quality??

[Lordspace]

Hi people, 

So the reason for my question is :

i have a skywatcher scope that doesn't have enough inward travel to achieve focus with my DSLR so I am using a cheap 2x Barlow lens.

 

will this very cheap Barlow lens degrade overall image quality??

i think I know the answer to this but would like others opinions on it.

and if anyone has any experience with better (not super expensive) Barlow lenses I would appreciate the input.

 

cheers.

[happy-kat]

With your mount you could also just put your DSLR and a camera lens on and image using that within your mount's capabilities. This will be lighter and less demanding.

The barlow lens will cut light which could be working against you and how much I guess depends on your target and the strength of it's emissions.

Have you thought of using longer colimation bolts instead for your telescope to raise the mirror?

 

 

[Lordspace]

26 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

With your mount you could also just put your DSLR and a camera lens on and image using that within your mount's capabilities. This will be lighter and less demanding.

The barlow lens will cut light which could be working against you and how much I guess depends on your target and the strength of it's emissions.

Have you thought of using longer colimation bolts instead for your telescope to raise the mirror?

 

 

I don't have a lens for the camera at the moment so prime focus is all I can do at the moment.

I have thought about moving the mirror up but that would probably be beyond my capabilities at the moment.

Would a more expensive Barlow work better if it had a better lens.

[happy-kat]

I would use what you already have to the limits of it's capabilities whilst learning more about imaging, equipment and processing. Then you might use the money differently.

[Lordspace]

8 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

I would use what you already have to the limits of it's capabilities whilst learning more about imaging, equipment and processing. Then you might use the money differently.

True, I did dabble in imaging about 4 years ago but I moved into a terrace house with no garden and light pollution galore but have since moved to somewhere pretty dark so have started all over again. 

Hopefully I don't get impatient and want to try and buy more stuff before I've used all I've got now to its max.

[happy-kat]

The barlow lens is going to double the focal length of the telescope which increases the demands on the tracking of the mount and amplifies undesirable movement. Whether you buy a better barlow won't make any difference to that. 

[happy-kat]

You might like this thread.

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/228101-the-no-eq-dso-challenge/page/1