Choosing a Barlow

[Levdr]

As I can't buy the Revelation Eyepiece Kit, I have decided to buy three eyepieces and a 2x Barlow in stead. That should be enough to get me started. Of course, I know nothing of Barlows, so here I am again, looking for a bit of help. What am I to look for when shopping for a 2x Barlow? What price range should I be looking at. Or can you recommend one maybe that is good value for the money?

I also noticed that Barlows, like eyepieces, come in two flavours: 1.25" and 2". Would it suffice for me to buy a 1.25" Barlow? Or would I want a 2" Barlow, and why?

Also, can you use a 1.25" Barlow with a 2" eyepiece, or for that matter, a 2" Barlow with a 1.25" eyepiece?

Any advice would be welcome, and as always: thank you in advance.

[Doc]

Personally I never use barlows now but when I first started I used the TAL x2 barlow, built really well and excellent value for the money.

[steve_bham]

Ive got the Ultima Celestron barlow and can recommend it. Not bady priced and a nice bit of kit.

[red dwalf]

don`t think that you can use different sizes together although i might be wrong, my advice would be to put a wanted advert in the for sale section, some people have a few and you will save money too, also agree with Mick, i have the 3x tal for imaging and they are solid pieces of glass, Celestron ultima are very good but around £80-£90, or look for the orion shorty plus, same as the Celestron but differnt badge and a fair bit cheaper

[kniclander]

you can use 1.25"e/ps with a 2"barlow (with an appropriate adaptor that is very cheap) but not vica versa.

[Levdr]

Thanks everybody. I looked at the Celestron and it's a bit too pricy for now. I like the looks of the Orion Shorty Plus even better, but that too is a bit pricy. The suggestion of buying a used one is a good one. Will look for that or try placing an ad.

Thanks kniclander for clearing that up for me.

One last question: I bought a Skywatcher ED refractor. Do I need the Barlow to be apochromatic as well, or would achromatic suffice?