Celestron Ultima Barlow 2x

Ratings:Top:Astronomy:Equipment Reviews:Barlows:Celestron Ultima Barlow 2x

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Brand and Model:Celestron Ultima Barlow 2x
Price ($USD):80
Magnification:2.0x
Barrel Size:1.25 in."
Description:The best deal going for a quality 2X Barlow. Construction quality is top notch and optical performance is excellent. Overall length is only 2.75 inches making it very compact. Shop carefully and you can find them at a street price of around $65.

Vote Highlights Vote
Celestron Ultima Barlow 2x
This is the best 1 1/4" 2 X barlow on the market today. Yes not even tv outdose this one. & at a really great price!

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=109145

Celestron Ultima Barlow 2x
Very good barlow especially considering the price. Quality and optics compare very similar to a TeleVue 3x barlow I owned but it's short length is much more convenient and it is less expensive.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=89766

Celestron Ultima Barlow 2x
A decent Barlow at a great price. Fit and finish are top notch. Be sure not to pay more then $70 for it though (3/2002). Also available as the same Barlow as the Orion Shorty + for a few dollars less.

Overall this is about as good as a Barlow gets except on long focal length eyepieces. You will notice the eye relief on longer eyepieces being extended too much causing blackouts and trouble positioning your eye. This is common for all short Barlow models. Not a major issue on eyepieces 26mm and shorter.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:8 Value:10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=77615

Celestron Ultima Barlow 2x
I concur with the above review. I have had my Ultima for some time now and found it to be an excellent performer; preferred it to the Meade apo barlow as the Meade had some color fringing problems (I think one of the lenses was out of alignment). The Utlima is very sharp and compact and light through-put remains virtually indistinguishable from a similar focal length single eyepiece. I have noticed no vignetting or loss of detail when using the barlow.

I also recently purchased a 5X Powermate. When comparing them directly I have found that the Powermate works best with Televue eyepieces, but can ghost with some others (obvious but slight). I have noticed the Ultima can also ghost a little but I don't recall on which eyepieces.

Anyway, the Ultima is a excellent purchase and will not disappoint should you decide to buy.

Telescopes - 10" f4.5 Newt, Tak FC76 f7.9
Eyepieces - UO Orthos, various Televue types across the different series

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 7 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=44315

Celestron Ultima Barlow 2x
This one is no surprise (the word on the street is true) : excellent in all aspects! Best upgrade I could get for my eyepieces (ortho, Hyperion, Plössl...) It actually makes my old Kellners (digged in the show box to find those) almost usable by reducing or even getting ride of a lot of their abberations! Cool.
It does create extra reflections in my Meade SP4000 (12.4mm) but I believe this is from the Meade itself.

Evaluation was done using a 114mm f7.9 Newton, a 200mm f6.0 Dob and a Celestron C80 ED on occasion.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Value:9
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=593888

Celestron Ultima Barlow 2x
I've had this barlow for about 4 years and have used it in a few different scopes, a Celestron C8, Celestron C9.25, Meade ETX90, and a very nice, older, made in Japan, Celestron firstscope 80. Put briefly, I don't think there's a substantially better standard barlow on the market right now. I don't know that it outperforms the TV barlows, but I don't think they clearly outperform it, either. The TV Powermates are a slightly different bird, not being a standard barlow, but I'd bet the Celestron Ultima Barlow would hold its own quite well against them, though perhaps not quite equal them, though I've not tested this myself. I found it clearly better-- sharper, better contrast, and less light scatter-- than an Orion variable strength barlow I've got. It feels very nice, too... well put together, substantial, and well machined. Eyepieces are pleasingly snug in the barlow, though not to the point of causing difficulty putting them in or taking them out. The only cause of concern for me is that the lens itself is very close to the end of the tube, exposing it to possibly being touched or scratched inadvertantly. I've never scratched mine, but have accidentally touched the lens with my fingers a few times and had to clean it off with a lenspen (a great accessory everyone should have!). A small concern, and inevitable, I suppose, with a short barlow, but it should be pointed out. Other than that, I can recommend this barlow with absolutely no reservations. Wonderful, especially for the price.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:8 Value:9
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=314554

Celestron Ultima Barlow 2x
I have both the Celestron standard barlow and the Ultima. The Ultima provides clearest views and is my preferred piece. One nice advantage is leaving the barlow in place for the night allows interchanging eyepieces without having to refocus, well very little refocus. My eyepieces that work very well with this barlow include Celestron Ultima 30, Ultima 7.5, Plossl 12.5 and Meade SWA18.
The C Plossl 12.5 provides an especially clear image at 200x in this barlow. This is my best high power combination for deep viewing of globular clusters. Cality and sharpness to the edge are excellent. I have also put this barlow in front of my diagonal to successfully increase power by 3x rather than 2x and achieve the needed power to cleanly split some extremely close doubles less than 1". I have experienced the very tight fit with some of my ep's. I have had to pull the barlow and ep out together and pull them apart using both hands. I can deal with that.
One thing I noticed, it seems that my field of view is less than half of the fov using same ep without barlow. I expected it to be half. Could it be this barlow is actually more than 2.0x or could it be that it narrows the fov. Anyway, I strongly recommend this APO barlow. edz.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=44321

Celestron Ultima Barlow 2x
Very high quality build as you would expect but the optics are several steps above what you would normally get for it's price. The Ultima can stand beside ANY high-end quality barlow and be proud. It's that good. With the Ultima up for grabs, one wonders why some simple two element barlows can comand the prices they do.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=361967

Celestron Ultima Barlow 2x
I have both the Ultima 2x and the UO Klee 2.8x and comparing the two, I prefer the view throught the Ultima. I have seen annoying ghost images mostly on Jupiter using the same eyepieces thru the Klee compared to none withe the Ultima and an overall crisper image thru the Ultima. The Klee is physically smaller, although the Ultima has a nice rubberized ring around the barrel I find comfortable on cold nights.
Unless you just need the xtra magnification from the Klee, I would go with the Ultima.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Value:8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=358471

Celestron Ultima Barlow 2x
Simply the best barlow on the market today. Just $80 for a 3-element apo barlow lense is a great deal, I find no reason to spent the extra money on TV's, although they are equally good performers. I rountinely see these in the case's of fellow astronomers more than any other 2x barlow. Great value, have owned mine for 5+ years.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=256790

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