Reviewer: Ty

Over time, I've noticed that the objects in my eyepiece for planetary study was clear. When I used the Shorty Plus, it did help with power but then I noticed the sharpness or quality of the object decreased. Which is unfortunate when your trying to see the rings of Saturn or the Red Spot on Jupiter. I have the Orion SkyQuest XT10 Classic, Focal Length is 1200MM f/4.7. I'm in the Market for a 5 Element 2X barlow but I think they only make a 3X. So far I've done good Astrophotgraphy with this Telescope using Registrax Software and a CCD camera. (Results are posted on youtube and picassa). I used this Barlow in most of the close up pictures and thankfully the software stacks the images to make it more clear. But you can see the decent quality I get using this Barlow. I won't knock it completely but will say it was a fair purchase for the money. Be careful not to touch the glass with your finger, you could ruin the coating that is on the glass and see some small artifacts. make sure you clean your Barlow and eyepieces correctly.

Reviewer: David Russell

I was disappointed by this barlow. When used with my Epic 18mm eyepiece it distorted the field of the eyepiece near the edges. The eyepiece was much sharper near the edges without the barlow. Howver, it did provide good images when looking at the moon with a 27mm Edge on eyepiece and a 24 mm Brandon. I was much less impressed with deep sky work. I tried the barlow on open and globular star clusters with a 27mm Orion flat field, 18mm Orion Epic, and a 24mm Brandon. While all 3 of these eyepieces were very satisfying as stand alones with my 4.7" f/8.3 refractor, their quality suffered when the shorty-plus barlow was used. In summary, I like this barlow much better for lunar observing than deep sky, but I think shorter focal length eyepieces would work as a superior means of obtaining higher magnifications.

Reviewer: Burton Pond

I ground and polished my my first mirror as a junior in high school in 1967. It was a 4.25" f10 reflector. The images were fantastic. My first Barlow was a "long" one. All of my following Barlows through the years were "long" Barlows until I purchased your Shorty-Plus 2x 3-Elem. Barlow. I needed this eyepiece because none of my long Barlows would come to focus with my refractor. Not only did this eyepiece come to focus with my small refractor, but it revealed a surprisingly impressive sharp image with my three Orion telescopes. If you are thinking of getting a Barlow lens make this one your choice as it provides not only wonderful images with reflecting telescopes, but reflectors equipped with diagonals as well.

Reviewer: Jim Cartee

If you have a great scope and high quality eyepieces, this along with the Orion TriMag 3x barlow is a :Must Have"! I use these barlows with my 8" SCT and my Orion Edge-ON eyepieces. The results are excellent. You can spend more money on barlows without gaining better results. I highly recommend Orion Barlows. Another excellent Orion Product!