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" 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 apiece!

Baader Planetarium and Eridanus Optics CC are elated to now offer again the  legendary Carl Zeiss Abbe-Barlow, in a new redesigned housing.  Carl Zeiss has produced a new run of these barlows, specifically for Baader Planetarium.  The lenses have been mounted in an all-new housing, which incorporates Baader's own Clicklock eyepiece clamp that 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 1.25" 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.

Barlow with 40mm Extension Tube, 2.6x Magnification

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).

International customer feedback:

The Baader Planetarium VIP Modular Barlow is a complete high quality 2X photo-visual barlow system.  The VIP (VIsual and Photographic) barlow is ingeniously designed for functionality and flexibility.  It  consists of several modular component parts, which enable you to configure the barlow for multiple visual and imaging uses.

Designed to accept 1.25" eyepieces and fit 1.25" focusers, it also incorporates a 2" section for use in 2" focusers.  The eyepiece holder uses dual nickel plated clamp screws for maximum convenience and security, and incorporates a captive spring bronze lock ring to prevent any possibility of damage to your eyepieces.  As with all Baader Planetarium products, the quality of machining and detail of design is unsurpassed.  The internal surfaces are all fully sharp V-threaded and blackened to eliminate stray light reflections.  Surfaces are finely machined and satin anodized for function and appearance, and the pieces all fit closely and precisely.

The heart of the VIP modular barlow is its precision air-spaced negative lens assembly. The large 24mm clear diameter of the optics minimizes vignetting, and its apochromatic field-flattening design makes it well suited for high power planetary observing as well as for CCD cameras. Both lens elements are polished to a very high standard, and fully multi-coated, using the finest 7 layer multi-coatings available today (reflections per surface are less than 0.2% !).  The result is a sharp, high-contrast image that is virtually unaffected by its passage through the barlow.

MPCC Coupled to 2" eyepiece

MPCC(ready to attach to any DSLR or CCD Camera) 

MPCC Configured for 1.25" Eyepieces

The Baader Planetarium MPCC enables owners of fast Newtonian telescopes to use their instrument for taking stunning wide-field images, or visually, for delivering wide-field views with stars that remain pinpoint to the edge - with no magnification increase!. 

The MPCC has been optimized for Newtonians with focal ratios from f/4 to f/6, and will deliver 12micron stars across a full 35mm frame size.  Independent optical laboratory tests (by ITE) have confirmed that the MPCC is the sharpest wide-field coma corrector available, and provides the best edge of field illumination.  Visual users have reported great results even down to f/3.7.  The optics are anti-reflection coated with the finest 7 layer multi-coatings available.  The MPCC is also priced very reasonably.  It's modularity lets you purchase only the parts you need.  For imaging with DSLRs, only the MPCC is required.  For visual, the MPCC can be configured with any of our eyepiece holders or directly coupled to 2" eyepieces using Astro T-2 System components.

VISUAL

NEW !   Dob users with f/3.7 - f/5 scopes have been discovering the unique benefits of the MPCC versus other coma correctors.  The MPCC can be inexpensively configured for visual use with 1.25" and 2" eyepieces.  Please see our MPCC Visual Configuration page for new information on some exciting visual configurations. 

• No Magnification Increase:  The MPCC delivers full fields for the widest 2" eyepieces.  Why spend the big $$ on a large widefield eyepiece, only to have its field squeezed by the coma corrector.  Now, a 31mm ultra-widefield eyepiece can perform like a 31mm, and not a 26mm..  Also, unlike some correctors, the MPCC has minimal effect on the eyepoint and blackout behavior of long focal length eyepieces.

• No additional Back-Focus (in-travel) Required:  In fact, in direct-coupled configurations, the MPCC actually increases back-focus by about 10mm.  If your eyepiece will focus without a coma corrector, it Will reach focus with the MPCC.  This is not the case with some other coma correctors.

• Low Cost:  The MPCC is about half the cost of other correctors.  Some users have even purchased more than one and leave them permanently attached to their favorite 2" eyepieces.

IMAGING

The MPCC is the ideal match for today's Digital SLRs.  Owners of these new cameras find them to be ideally mated with today's fast f/4-f/5 Newtonians required to keep exposures short.  The MPCC enables these users to fully correct their scopes and produce superb pinpoint color deep sky images without the complexity of more expensive CCD astrocameras.  Owners of Vixen Newtonians will appreciate the inclusion of filter threads, and the high sharpness of the images.  Unlike other coma-correctors, the MPCC does NOT extend the focal ratio (so, your images will be shot at the full speed of your telescope).

The MPCC inserts into 2" focusers and has external T-threads on the output side (and is also threaded for standard 2"/48mm filters).  Simply attach any 35mm film or digital SLR to the MPCC, using commonly available T-adapters.  Users of CCD cameras can attach in the same way through the use of our Astro T-2 System components (adapters, extension tubes).   The MPCC is designed for a nominal 55mm distance from the mounting flange to the film plane (55mm is the standard dimension for all SLRs, measured from the front of their T-adapter to their film plane). It also extends the focus point by approximately 10mm, so no additional back-focus is needed to use the MPCC (of course, this assumes your camera will already reach focus in your telescope, without the MPCC).

NEW The latest version of the MPCC now includes a removable stop flange.  Removal of this flange exposes an M48 external thread, which enables the MPCC to be directly coupled to 2" eyepieces and inserted fully inside 2" focusers.   For more info, please see MPCC Visual Configuration.

NEW The MPCC has been tested and found to work well on Meade SN Schmidt-Newtonians (see Bill Christie's comments below)

"Using the Baader Multi-purpose Coma Corrector from Alpine Astro the coma in my 12-inch f/5 telescope is gone - wow! - my images are now flat across the entire field, and I find that amazing, since this telescope previously produced a moderate to large amount of coma in my images.  The other delightful thing I found was the MPCC screws straight into the bottom of my 2-inch eyepieces.  Thanks Baader, Thanks Alpine Astro."   Paul Mayo, SKY:Lab Astronomy Software http://www.skylab.com.au/

Conclusion: A Baader MPCC Coma Corrector with proper collimation, tracking and good focus WILL give you pinpoint stars in your photos, right across the field of view (1.6 degrees in an SN-8). The Baader MPCC Coma Corrector joins the Telrad and Accufocus in my list of MUST-HAVE equipment (for astrophotography) when using a Meade LXD-75 SN-8. Bill Christie http://www.zodiaclight.com/ (see this site for some nice comparison shots with/without MPCC)

The weight of the MPCC by itself is 80gm (2.8oz).

A common limitation that plagues owners of most popular Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes is the narrow field size and high magnifications produced by their slow optical system (typically, f/10).  Until now, owners of SCTs have lacked a truly versatile and high-quality method of reducing their f/10 (or slower) systems for faster, wider, photographic/CCD and visual fields. (note: the telecompressor is not intended for use with the Meade native f/6.3 SCTs).  Using the Alan Gee with 1=BC=94 eyepieces can yield actual fields of view that match or exceed what you could only achieve with expensive 2" eyepieces!

Baader Planetarium has developed a truly unique and  extremely versatile telecompressor system that delivers the finest wide flat fields your SCT is capable of.  The key to the Alan Gee Mark II Telecompressor is its innovative optical and mechanical design.  Unlike the commonly available and simple single-purpose solutions, the Alan Gee Telecompressor Mark II has been engineered specifically to work well with SCTs in a wide variety of visual and imaging configurations.   The unique design of the Alan Gee Telecompressor positions the lens elements several inches inside the telescope's central baffle tube (see the C8 Cutaway, which shows the lens mounted in the standard imaging configuration).  The result is a sharp, wide, flat field, at a fast focal ratio of f/5.9 - and it even works superbly with Baader Planetarium, Zeiss, and Celestron Binocular Viewers!

That's right.  The Alan Gee Mark II is designed to function with many popular  binocular viewers.  At last, you can use your large aperture SCT to produce stunning wide field binocular views.  For more information on this unique telecompressor system, including some sample CCD images, please click on the link below.