Baader Planetarium Carl Zeiss Eyepiece Barlow Lens 1.25 Inch with Baader Clicklock-Clamp

Carl Zeiss Abbe Eyepieces continue to be regarded as the finest astronomical eyepieces ever made. Around 1995, Carl Zeiss produced a very limited number of a newly designed matching 1.25 inch 2X Abbe-Barlow*. This doublet barlow incorporated a special high-quality ED glass, along with Zeiss' famous multicoatings, optical accuracy, smoothness, and surface quality. Discriminating planetary observers have found this to be the finest barlow ever produced. Unfortunately, due to their scarcity and unsurpassed performance, these barlows rarely surface on the secondary market, commanding extremely high prices - up to $1200 a piece!
Baader Planetarium and Alpine Astronomical are elated to now offer again the legendary Carl Zeiss Abbe-Barlow, in a new redesigned housing. The barlow lens itself is the same original Zeiss lens that was available in 1995. These lenses have been mounted in an all-new housing, which incorporates Baader's own Clicklock eyepiece clamp which attaches to the barlow housing via T-threads. The marriage of these two parts makes an even finer barlow than the 1995 original style. The non-marring Clicklock holder makes interchanging eyepieces a snap, firmly clamping the eyepiece with a gentle twist of the top ring. The ID of the lens cell is fully sharp v-threaded to kill stray light. The top of the Clicklock holder is height-adjustable, and removable to expose an external T-thread. This enables use of the barlow as a superb projection barlow for imaging or with an eyepiece for projection at higher magnifications (simply add any of our T-2 Extension tubes). The front barlow housing may also be attached to any T-threaded camera. When attached to a DSLR, the resultant magnification is 2.3X.
Users of all 1-inch eyepieces will find the Baader Zeiss Abbe-Barlow to be the finest barlow they've ever used, increasing the magnification without introducing any detectable loss in sharpness or contrast. A side benefit is the increased eye-relief that comes from using longer focal length eyepieces, enabling a more comfortable and relaxed view. This compact barlow remains parfocal at 2X, minimizing the disruption to focusing when adding the barlow into the optical chain.
Baader has found that the Zeiss Abbe-Barlow works extremely well at magnifications up to 4X. Barlow users are no longer constrained to the typical 2X/3X single magnifications provided by standard barlows. The new housing enables users to vary the magnification of the Abbe-Barlow simply by using T-2 Extension Tubes in-between the barlow housing and the Clicklock clamp. For example, inserting one T2-25B 40mm extension tube gives a magnification of 2.6X, two tubes = 3.3X, three tubes = 3.9X. Shorter tubes (7.5mm or 15mm) may also be used alone or together with the 40mm tubes to provide intermediate magnifications.
Owners of Zeiss Abbe eyepieces now have an opportunity to finally complete their set, as Zeiss had intended. With the 2X Abbe Barlow, their available set of focal lengths doubles and fills-in the gaps between focal lengths (2,3,4,5,6,8,10,12.5,16,17,25,34).