Orion Shorty-Plus 2x Barlow

Ratings:Top:Astronomy:Equipment Reviews:Barlows:Orion Shorty-Plus 2x Barlow

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Brand and Model:Orion Shorty-Plus 2x Barlow
Price ($USD):65.00
Magnification:2.0x
Barrel Size:1.25"
Description:3-Element apochromatic barlow. 2 3/4" long. Locking thumbscrew. Fully multi-coated. 27mm clear aperture.

Vote Highlights Vote
Orion Shorty-Plus 2x Barlow
01/11/06 This is actually the first barlow I have ever owned and used, so I don’t really have anything to compare it to. But I have tested the sharpness by barlowing a quality eyepiece and comparing the image with a single eyepiece/2. What I have found is two almost identical images at prime focus. Using the Shorty-Plus with quality eyepieces makes a world of difference. When I first bought it, all I had were two Orion Sirius Plossls, the 25 and 10mm. They are fairly good eyepieces by themselves, but no good for barlowing. At times I was very frustrated with crummy views, not realizing that it wasn’t the barlows fault, but the eyepieces. But now using the barlow with some of my newer quality pieces, I am very satisfied. I do wish that it was threaded at the end to except filters, but still a very impressive barlow at an excellent 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=549640

Orion Shorty-Plus 2x Barlow
Got it used at Orion. It is like new when received. Very impressive optics despite being short. The barrel is a little bit large, i.e. tight on the focuser.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Value:10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=353770

Orion Shorty-Plus 2x Barlow
This is a fine barlow lens. Its short size will fit all focusers without intruding into the light path, and, for users of catadioptric scopes, it makes possible 2 different magnifications when inserted beneath the eyepiece or between the diagonal and the tube. A small amount of residual pincushion distortion keeps me from giving this a 10 optically, but, as optical students may note, that actually improves star images across the field of view. Many eyepiece/barlow combinations have to compromise here. The Klee barlow has a sharper image, but a substantially smaller field, so this could be the best bargain in barlows on the market. If you need a barlow (because you have a short focal length or because you need to use eyepieces with longer, more comfortable, eye reliefs), then you need look no further. Your already excellent optics will not be diminished by this one. One caveat: this may not be appropriate for extremely wide FOV eyepieces in very short focal length scopes (like the TV76 or 85) because of imperfect correction of edge-of-field color, but my 5" Mak resolves M13 when used with this barlow, so center-of-field sharpness is excellent. Recommended.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Value:10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=300250

Orion Shorty-Plus 2x Barlow
This is the finest barlow that Orion sells in my opinion. I have used the TV Powermates, TV barlows, UO barlows, Meade Barlows and Celestron barlows, and by far, this little performer holds it's own extremely well. I tend to stay away from those so called "apochromatic" barlows, I personally find them to present ghosting and kidney beaning effect, but not with the Orion Shorty Plus. the 27mm of clear aperture is fantastic, the full multi coatings really enhance sharpness and contrast immensely. The price is fantastic, selling for $65 most of the time...been known to drop to $54.95 at times too. You cannot find a better barlow for the price. The images will really grab you through this barlow when coupled with fine oculars

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:9 Value:10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=238151

Orion Shorty-Plus 2x Barlow
I haven't liked previous barlows I have used because of internal reflections and ghost images. This barlow appears to be mostly free of those. Like others who have voted, I bought it on sale from Orion Telescopes. I use it in combination with two Pentax XL eyepieces (14mm and 10.5mm) with an Orion Shorttube 80 refractor (yielding magnifications of 56x and 76x). I have been using it for only a few months, but so far am extremely satisfied. Keep in mind, however, that the eyepiece/barlow combination cost more than the telescope itself!

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Value:9
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=75811

Orion Shorty-Plus 2x Barlow
I bought this barlow on sale from Orion with free shipping for $59.45. This is a very good barlow and is small, light and convenient to use, but I think the GSO 2" barlow for about the same price (or maybe a bit more with shipping) is a better deal. Check out my review of the GSO 2".

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:9 Value:8
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=416967

Orion Shorty-Plus 2x Barlow
I own this barlow and the standard shorty from Orion. I'd recently purchased an apo refractor and noticed some softening of the image with the normal shorty and wanted to try a slightly better barlow before going to a premium barlow.

This is a great barlow, well machined, no visible color fringing or softening of images. Multicoating is flawless, making the glass nearly disappear. Unfortunately, the first night I had this barlow, I put a big thumbprint on the lens... microfiber cloth finally removed the muck, but only after I fooled around with other cleaning solutions.

In comparing the normal shorty with this barlow, I like the two set screws of the normal shorty vs the single of the shorty plus. Additionally, I like that the shorty has filter threads.

Still, views through this barlow are better than the normal shorty. If you are going to buy a first barlow, get this one. if you want an incremental upgrade, this may be the last step before a premium barlow.

Stephen

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:9 Value:8
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=368535

Orion Shorty-Plus 2x Barlow
I owned another Meade Barlow and HATED IT. Orion was having a big sale on these and I just couldn't pass on the price. One of the best investments in EP stuff I've made yet. I use it for planetary viewing exclusively and it does a terrific job. Much more comfortable to use a barlow with a longer FL EP than say a 10mm EP on my middle aged eyes.
I use a DHQ-8 F/6 and with a 25mm EP and this barlow. It gets me up to about 98x. Very sharp images of cloud bands of Jupiter, GRS and shadow transits are visible. Saturn has the Cassini and occasionally the Enke divisions visible.
I occasionally am able to use my 15mm EP (162x) with loss of some sharpness, probably due to atomspherics.

Well worth the extra money over the cheaper barlows.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 4 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=44260

Orion Shorty-Plus 2x Barlow
excellent barlow, very high image quality, gave it a nine because it doesn't accept filters ( when you switch eyepieces you have to put your filters on the next eyepiece toug if your at high powers and trying to keep something in the FOV )

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 4 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=44257

Orion Shorty-Plus 2x Barlow
Well Made. Great Price. Sharp views with 8 inch newt and lx90. Very happy with the purchase.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=310975

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