Q re: Astro Engineering 4x Imagemate

[Regulus (Trevor)]

This item, the Astro Engineering 4x Imagemate is touted as being made mainly for small ccd imaging so I am wondering if it is made to partly (or wholly) flatten the field, and that's why it is said to 'also be ok for visual astronomy'.
Does anyone have any experience with one?
Trevor

[Shiraz (Ray)]

never seen one Trevor, but it looks to be a good quality, but fairly standard, 2 element Barlow. It's claim to be suitable for small chip imaging may be due to the Barlow lens being small in diameter. As far as I can tell, it does not have a field flattening element - ie it is not equivalent to a TV Powermate.

[Regulus (Trevor)]

Thx Ray. Pretty much what I thought.
I wish the 5x Powermate had a built in t-Thread. Rather than having to add that to the price.
Still the TV is probably the best way to go.
Trev