barlow or no barlow

[tms48]

On a skywatcher F5 130p would I get better viewing results using a barlow or shorter focal lenght eyepieces. The theoretical maximum magnification is around 230x so even a 4mm eypiece would give around 165x. Assuming they are of equal quality would the eyepiece only give a brighter sharper view than say a 12mm with a 3x barlow, or 8mm with 2x barlow.

[John]

Hi,

This recent thread is on the same subject so might give you some good information :

http://stargazerslounge.com/beginners-help-advice/135420-eyepiece-barlow.html

[Cashman]

The Barlow helped on mine when viewing Saturn. I didn't use it on anything else though. It made saturn a great deal larger to view. The image was still pretty crisp too!

[great_bear]

Assuming they are of equal quality would the eyepiece only give a brighter sharper view than say a 12mm with a 3x barlow, or 8mm with 2x barlow.

Assuming good quality barlows, all three views would be identical, the barlowed views possibly being better due to being better corrected.