Celestron f/6.3 Focal Reducer/Corrector


Image: Celestron f/6.3 Focal Reducer/Corrector
An accessory to gather more light and halve the magnification of my eyepieces.


The idea behind a focal reducer/corrector is to make a few expensive, high-quality eyepieces more versatile. While a Barlow lens will double or triple the magnification of an eyepiece, this reducer halves the magnification. So, I can use one top-notch $350 eyepiece with incredible optics in three different powers. The other benefit is that it widens the apparent field of view, which is nice for seeing larger objects or more stars at a time. It also makes the view brighter, since lower magnifications discard less of the light coming into the telescope.

I've used my reducer a few times, without a light pollution filter, or a contrast enhancing filter, I can't see very much within 20° of the horizon. The reducer is so good at increasing brightness that it picks up all the haze too. I like this lens, but I think I'll like it more with an LPR filter. I wish Baader made their Contrast Enhancer filter in a 2", or even better, an SCT cell like the reducer.

Posted: Tue - March 16, 2004 at 06:24 PM             |

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