barlow lenses

[NewToStars (Jase)]

What do people recommend is a good barlow lens to buy. obviously you get what you pay for, but will a $105 2X barlow be as good as a $195 barlow. anyone have any for sale.

What brands should i stay clear of?

What are the barlow lenses like if i were to buy from a Gametronics shop.. (such shops exist in Peninsular Fair (Kippa Ring and Morayfield shopping centre). if you know the place i'm refering too.

Or should i just stick with the place in at Fortutide Valley.

Oh. and why doesn't anyone appear to sell 3X barlow lenses. are they expensive, hard to find, or just not as good.

thanks
jase

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

You can get 3x barlows. Go to the Bintel Shop, select Telescope Accessories down the side and type in Barlow in the search box. You will find quite a few different barlows (and some eyepieces).

As to your question about $105 to $195, usually you get what you pay for. But if you are looking for a pretty good quality barlow at a reasonable price then you would find it hard to go past the Orion Shorty Plus ($139 from Bintel)or either the 2X (recommended) or 3X Televue Barlow ($169 @ bintel). The Shorty Plus has received a lot of good reviews from many people.

If you want to spend quite a bit more money you could look at the powermates


ps avoid non-specialist stores for astronomy equipment unless you know specifically what you are looking for. The death traps are places like camera stores (not all but many), electronics stores (you know the ones ) camping and Australiana stores (trying not to name names) and department stores.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Hi Jase,
Those shops at Kipparing and Morayfield, I know the ones you mean, while they do sell telescopes, don't sell accessories.
Like Paul said, stick to the Astronomy shops. If you go to a place like York Optical, they'll be able to offer you all sorts of good advice.
The online stores a great too, if you know what you want.
See you on the weekend.