Barlow Lens

[mark993]

Hey all,

am i right in thinking a 2x barlow lens will double the mag of any eye piece i use with it?

[Luke]

Howdy,

Yep the 2x barlow will double the mag of your eyepiece.

If you are using a diagonal, you might be able to place the barlow between the scope and diagonal (instead of between the diagonal and eyepiece) to get about three times magnification from the 2x barlow - though this may depend on your scope. It works on my 80mm refractor if I use an extension tube (without the extension tube I can't get it to focus as the eyepiece has to be so far back from the telescope).

Apparently you can also stack barlows, though I haven't tried this myself, in theory combining a 2x barlow and a 3x barlow would give you 6x magnification. Has anyone had good or bad experiences stacking barlows??

[Astro_Baby]

Yes - the Barlow will double (or triple depending on the Barlows x factor -0 ie x2, x3, x6 etc).

Not all Barlows are equal (or anything like) and some people just dont like them.

[John]

They can be very useful but need to be equal to the quality of the eyepieces they are being used with - ie: a cheap barlow lens in between a nice eyepiece and a decent scope is not a good idea !.

The maximum useful magnification remains limited by the scope aperture and observing conditions of course (mostly the latter in the UK).

[brantuk]

Yup - all the above apply. A couple of very popular 2x are the Celestron Ultima barlow and Orion Shorty (both great quality and comparable performance). You can get them around £75 new or circa £50-£60 ish second hand.

The Televue Powermates are great but a bit pricier. I use s/h regular Televue Barlows

[TheThing]

Tal Barlows are also worth considering. Although quite a bit cheaper (£35 - £40) they have the usual Tal optically quality, are wll made and very durable (dropped my x2 several times, but with no ill effects!)

[Pete Presland]

Tal Barlows are also worth considering. Although quite a bit cheaper (£35 - £40) they have the usual Tal optically quality, are wll made and very durable (dropped my x2 several times, but with no ill effects!)

definitely a 2nd for tal barlows you can get them ND hand for a good price currently using a x3 for imaging great value for money!

[brantuk]

I second the Tals as well - forgot I have the 2x in my kit lol - great vfm budget barlow

[WayneR]

Thanks for the advice gents.