What Does Barlow Lens Do?

The Barlow lens, named after Peter Barlow, is a diverging lens which, used in series with other optics in an optical system, increases the effective focal length of an optical system as perceived by all components that are after it in the system. The practical result is that inserting a Barlow lens magnifies the image.

What is a Barlow lens good for?

To put it simply, Barlow lenses are a cost-effective way to increase the magnification of your eyepieces. ... Their effect is to increase the magnification of any eyepiece used with them, usually 2 or 3 times. As you'd expect, a 2x Barlow doubles your eyepiece magnification, whilst a 3x trebles it.

Are Barlow lenses worth it?

Every amateur astronomer should consider the Barlow lens as an extremely useful tool. One of the greatest advantages of say, a 2x Barlow Lens is that it doubles the magnification of your eyepieces, which can also be effectively seen as doubling your eyepiece collection.

Alexander Ross

Alexander Ross

Gaming, Esports & Interactive Media Writer

Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.