Baader Barlow Question

[Roy Challen]

Baader sell two barlows, the Q-turret 2.25 and the Hyperion Zoom barlow, also 2.25. Is there any difference optically?  What other reason is there for offering two very similar products?

[Don Pensack]

One is a conventional Barlow in its own tube.

The other is a threaded-on version with adapters for 1.25" and T-Thread use.

If this is to be used visually in your scopes, get the Q-Barlow unless it is to be used for imaging too.

Also, the Q-Barlow cannot be used at the lower power advertised unless the bottom barrel of the eyepiece is completely empty and the bottom lens of the eyepiece is up inside the upper barrel of the eyepiece.

If used as a 1.3x Barlow, it inserts quite a ways into the eyepiece's barrel.

Generally, it's best to think of both Barlows as 2.25x.

[Roy Challen]

Thanks Don. I do have the Q barlow,and generally only use it as a 2.25. So, the HZ barlow is more suitable for imagers then? Makes sense. Several of both types have appeared on ABS over here recently and I was just wondering what the difference was.

[Don Pensack]

Well, one objection I have to the Baader Zoom Barlow is that when it's attached to the zoom, the entire mass of the zoom is outside the focuser or adapter.

I never felt comfortable hanging all that weight on just a few mm of threads.

[Franklin]

5 hours ago, Don Pensack said:

Well, one objection I have to the Baader Zoom Barlow is that when it's attached to the zoom, the entire mass of the zoom is outside the focuser or adapter.

I never felt comfortable hanging all that weight on just a few mm of threads.

I very peculiar arrangement, like a huge stalk! When I had the MkIV zoom and zoom barlow I would only use it with the 2" skirt which helped but then you had to be mindful of it making contact with the diagonals mirror. 

There's info on the Baader site about the zoom barlow specs and how it is optimized for use with the zoom. I had the Q-barlow at the same time and couldn't see a difference visually. Both good barlows.

[Spile]

If you don’t attach the Barlow to the skirt, the whole assembly will rotate when you change the zoom and you don’t want that. Using the 2” adapter solves that problem as I explain here https://astro.catshill.com/the-zoom-eyepiece/

[John]

My preferred approach is on the right of this pic 🙂

I still use the Baader zoom, just not with a barlow. The Svbony 3-8 zoom cost only a few £'s more than the zoom barlow.

[RobertI]

22 hours ago, John said:

My preferred approach is on the right of this pic 🙂

I still use the Baader zoom, just not with a barlow. The Svbony 3-8 zoom cost only a few £'s more than the zoom barlow.

Hard to argue with that John!

[Spile]

22 hours ago, John said:

My preferred approach is on the right of this pic 🙂

I still use the Baader zoom, just not with a barlow. The Svbony 3-8 zoom cost only a few £'s more than the zoom barlow.

Sorry I don’t understand. The BHZ and Barlow together costs around £300. The Svbony alone costs around £225 . What am I missing?

[John]

33 minutes ago, Spile said:

Sorry I don’t understand. The BHZ and Barlow together costs around £300. The Svbony alone costs around £225 . What am I missing?

The Svbony zoom can be bought new for £120-£130 last time I checked. The BHZ barlow costs £114.00 plus P&P currently from FLO.

 

Edited November 15, 2023 by John

[Louis D]

The Svbony zoom goes for around $120 with tax delivered here in the US.  The BHZ Barlow runs about $165 with tax delivered in the US.  The BHZ + BHZB combo goes for around $380 with tax delivered.  The BHZ alone is $280 with tax delivered.  Thus, the BHZ + SZ would be about $400 or about $20 more than the BHZ + BHZB combo purchase.  I'd rather have two separate zoom eyepieces myself for that $20 difference.

[Spile]

Thanks for the clarification of pricing variance.

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by Spile

[Spile]

23 hours ago, John said:

The Svbony zoom can be bought new for £120-£130 last time I checked. The BHZ barlow costs £114.00 plus P&P currently from FLO.

 

The prices for the 3-8mm zoom were much higher than that on the sites I looked at. The 7-21mm was much cheaper.

[John]

39 minutes ago, Spile said:

The prices for the 3-8mm zoom were much higher than that on the sites I looked at. The 7-21mm was much cheaper.

The 3-8 zoom compares very favourably in build quality, and surprisingly well in optical terms as well, with the Tele Vue high power zooms, which cost nearly 4x as much. I could well understand the Svbony 3-8 being priced at around £250 or even more considering it's quality, but it's not and, IMHO, rather a good buy 🙂

 

[Zermelo]

1 hour ago, Spile said:

The prices for the 3-8mm zoom were much higher than that on the sites I looked at. The 7-21mm was much cheaper.

I've seen wildly varying prices on different sites. I'm assuming it will settle down with time.

[John]

4 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

I've seen wildly varying prices on different sites. I'm assuming it will settle down with time.

I'm concerned that it might revert to a somewhat higher price in due course. If the eyepiece bore more prestigious branding I think it's price would be far higher. 

[globular]

I don't really have a need for one currently, with my long focal length C8 - but I'm actively looking for one because I will get another scope at some point and, like you, I'd be amazed if they stay this value for too much longer. 

[Zermelo]

19 minutes ago, John said:

I'm concerned that it might revert to a somewhat higher price in due course. If the eyepiece bore more prestigious branding I think it's price would be far higher. 

Yes, perhaps I should have said "settle up" rather than "settle down".

[Franklin]

The price is going down, AliExpress will deliver one to the UK for a grand total of £73.14 right now.

I've seen reviews comparing these favorably to some tasty eyepieces.

[John]

41 minutes ago, Franklin said:

The price is going down, AliExpress will deliver one to the UK for a grand total of £73.14 right now.

I've seen reviews comparing these favorably to some tasty eyepieces.

That's good news.

I've just parted with some nice abbe orthos because the Sv 3-8 zoom showed Saturn and Jupiter just as well with the benefits of zooming, more eye relief and a wider AFoV. Svbony have a good one here 👍 

[Roy Challen]

3 hours ago, Franklin said:

The price is going down, AliExpress will deliver one to the UK for a grand total of £73.14 right now.

I've seen reviews comparing these favorably to some tasty eyepieces.

Yup, took the chance and ordered one. Hopefully it'll arrive in a couple of weeks.

[Franklin]

4 hours ago, Roy Challen said:

Yup, took the chance and ordered one

👍Same here, for use with my ED70 travel scope, I've been using a 2x barlow with my LV8-24 zoom but the 3-8 SVBony zoom has been getting glowing reviews and at that price it seems silly not to.

[Captain Scarlet]

23 hours ago, Zermelo said:

Yes, perhaps I should have said "settle up" rather than "settle down".

In my experience the phrase “settle up” causes an expectation of payment. The phrase “settle down” usually results in an argument 😁.

[Roy Challen]

On 17/11/2023 at 03:39, Roy Challen said:

Yup, took the chance and ordered one. Hopefully it'll arrive in a couple of weeks.

Well, it's already here! Feels well made, and unbelievably, it looks like it will be clear tonight 😃

[Saganite]

I have one Roy and l like it a lot.