Celestron 93529 1.25 Inch X-Cel LX 2X Barlow Lens, Black

Really easy to use perfect fit, purchased this Barlow to magnify my eyepieces 2x, crystal clear images, great for attaching a DSLR camera to your scope.

I was hoping this would give me great views of Jupiter and Saturn like shown in the photos of some other reviews. Sadly, it can't make up for poor seeing conditions and the lack of aperture on my telescopes, so I have yet to get view as good as those. None of that is the fault of this Barlow, however. The lens seems well-built and solid and worked with all of my eyepieces. I got mine for $80 which was a good deal. Looking at it now at $120 it may not be as good a deal anymore. 5 stars.

My wife and I are new to astronomy and were looking to find a way to get a better image on our telescope. This fit bill very well, it magnified the image of Saturn so that we could see the ring better. I highly recommend this well built optic.

This replaces a very good 1990s vintage Celestron Ultima Barlow. The Ultima was considered perhaps as the best short Barlow on the market for its time. Both this and the Ultima are quite similar in certain respects:1) They are designed to work in star diagonals2) They are three element BarlowsI purchased the X-Cel 2x based on the performance of the 3x version, which featured class leading contrast and sharpness, and the ability to deal with difficult eyepieces with a bit more grace than the Ultima. Key to the contrast performance is the hollow top, which eliminates a major potential source of reflections.The 2x is a bit shorter than the 3x and handles difficult eyepieces a little better. Contrast and sharpness is exceptional. People often comment that a good Barlow should act as if it wasn't there, except for the increase in magnification. By that definition there are no good Barlows, but of the many I have tried, these come the closest. I have tried Meade, Explore Scientific, Baader, and Televue (earlier models).Some general thoughts on Barlows for beginners.1) Know your telescope's limits. If your scope is well collimated, your magnification limit will fall somewhere between 30x-60x per inch of aperture. A 10mm eyepiece will give you 200x (25x/inch) in a telescope like the C8. Putting a 2x Barlow in there boosts the power to 400x (50x/inch). A C8 tends to do best around 30x/inch. A 3x Barlow simply makes the situation worse. Try using a 2x Barlow with a 15mm to 20mm eyepiece with this scope.2) Know your viewing conditions. To use high magnifications, the air you look through must be fairly steady. The overall steadiness of the air is called "seeing." If you rarely get steady nights, limit your eyepiece purchases to those magnifications you are likely to use frequently. You can then use the Barlow on those uncommon, steady nights.3) A bad eyepiece is a single bad eyepiece. A bad Barlow has the potential to mess up a bunch of eyepieces. Don't cheap out. If you use a star diagonal, avoid two element, short Barlows, even if they are cheaper. They simply don't work that well. That third element makes a difference. Some short, two element Barlows let you thread off the optical elements, and thread them directly into an eyepiece, giving a 1.3x to 1.5x boost in magnification. That arrangement is usually worse optically than the two element Barlow attached to its own tube.4) If you just use a Newtonian reflector, consider a longer Barlow, as they are easier to make well. Amateur astronomers have high praise for the Televue 2x and the Orion Tri-mag (3x).

I got what I expected, and on time. Although it was not too expensive, to get something better would have cost far too much. This is good for amateur stargazing, which is me.

Use this between my Celestron 6” scope and their adjustable eyepiece. Works great when I need extra magnification!

Took my telescope outside immediately and looked into some of my neighbor's backyards who live pretty far away and I am not disappointed. Definitely a good buy.

I like the feel of the Barlow, plus it is compact. I have no problem with it, except I purchased it as a 2x Barlow. It gives too much magnification to be useful to me. I wanted to use it with a 7mm eyepiece to make a 3.5 equivalent, but instead, the Barlow makes it 3.0mm with its 2.35x power. With a 9mm Orthoscopic eyepiece, it is a 2.44x Barlow.I may send it back.