Al Nagler's 4-element concept, continues the tradition of full-field sharpness with optimum aberration control. Like long eye-relief? Retain the eye-relief of long focal length eyepieces, while at high power. Enjoy, for example, the sharpness and comfort of the 32mm Plössl at up to 5 times the power!

We had to go beyond the Barlow concept to achieve the goal of a compact, high power, fully corrected image amplifier. The Powermate™ consists of a negative doublet plus a positive "pupil-correcting" doublet. This 4-element system provides the magnifying function of a Barlow without its limitations by restoring the field rays back to their original direction, as if the Powermate™ were not there. The result is a pure magnification increase.

Unique Benefits and Applications for Powermates™

1. Vignetting, edge field aberrations and pupil movement - all introduced when using Barlows with long focal length eyepieces, are minimized.
2. Telecentric operation (field rays leave parallel to optical axis, unlike Barlow lenses which diverge rays). This is ideal for Hydrogen-alpha filter use such as with Daystar models.
3. High performance for image amplification, CCD or film (some of the finest Earth-based planetary imaging is being done with Powermates™ — see below).
4. Flexible for visual and imaging with all types of telescopes and eyepieces. Essentially Parfocal, and with nearly constant magnification regardless of image distance behind top surface (except 5x model which increases 1x for every 35mm of image distance increase).
5. Higher magnifications are possible with high optical performance compared to "doubling up" Barlows.
6. All will reach parfocal point in star diagonals, except for the 2", 2x which comes very close.

1¼" Powermates™: 2.5x & 5x

These models stand less than 3" out of your focuser and the 5x takes 1¼" threaded filters. They are parfocal in ALL 1¼" diagonals and prisms. For this reason, they are highly recommended over standard Barlows for 1¼" diagonals and refractors such as the Tele Vue-60. 

The 5x Powermate™ is ideal for long focus CCD and film photography, magnifying about 7.7x. It's an attractive, high performance alternative to eyepiece projection. The 5x is also perfect for slowing down your scope for Hydrogen-Alpha solar observing. 

2" Powermates™: 2x & 4x

These Powermates™ are a better choice for 2" diagonals than Barlows, since they are nearly Parfocal. They are threaded for 48mm filters and their performance is excellent with every 1¼" and 2" eyepiece we make (yes, even the 31mm Nagler Type 5!). Both the 2" eyepiece holder and the special 2" flat top adapter use our brass clamp rings for secure operation. And, it also has a very unique feature: you can unscrew the 2" eyepiece housing and screw on a special T-ring adapter for solid, compact attachment of CCD or camera equipment.

Excellent with long eye-relief, 2" eyepieces. Using the 4x model, imagine the quality of a 35mm Panoptic at 8.8mm with 25mm of eye relief! The Powermate™ is NOT a Barlow so the Panoptic-Barlow Interface is not needed! The 2" Powermate™ fits all the way into 2" Star Diagonals, requiring minimal refocus compared to a 2" Barlow.

Powermate™ Magnification Chart for Imagers

For astro-imagers, the above chart indicates the magnification for each Powermate™ (2x, 2.5x, 4x & 5x) as a function of distance from the Powermate™ top surface to the imaging surface (CCD/CMOS or film).