2x Barlow Help

[agthomson]

With my birthday coming at the end of the month (yay) I will be being treated to a 2x Barlow. Having looked around on various websites, most people have recommended the TeleVue range for all optical needs.

The TeleVue 2x Barlow comes in at £79 without the 20% discount, so that's around £64. The other options seem to be either the Meade 5000 2x at closer to £87, the Tal at £36 or the Celestron at £89.

I'm looking for the "best" one out of the bunch for general stargazing, and possibly in an AP setup later on. Advice?

[Willarnold]

The Televue seams to come out on top.

Just purchased a 3x one myself

[stunt squirrel]

Coming in a bit cheaper, I got a celestron 'Omni' 2 x barlow and its been great. Only £30ish. Waaaay better than a Meade 3x that I had... the lens FELL OUT of that little sucker.

[nicnac]

televues for the top spot followed by the TAL for me

[John]

For use in a newtonian then I'd go Tele Vue. For a refractor, SCT or mak, the Celestron Ultima is useful because it goes into the diagonal which is more convenient. I've compared the Ultima to the Tele Vue and I could not see anything between them, optically.

[Skybrowser]

Value for money - depends on how much you want to spend. TAL for me. Have got the 3X and it's built like a Russian War memorial.

[brianb]

I've compared the Ultima to the Tele Vue and I could not see anything between them, optically.

The Ultima is considerably better especially for imaging - less chromatic dispersion in UV and IR - I get the impression the Ultima gives slightly better contrast too.

The TV Barlow is poor compared with the Powermate.

[agthomson]

Thanks for the suggestions. It looks like tracking down a 2x Powermate 1.25" is a little harder than I thought. However, on my searches I did come across this. It certainly looks the part, but is it really all it's cracked up to be?