The Barlow lens is an accessory that can be added to a binocular or trinocular by screwing it onto the head. The most common formats have a 54mm or 48mm thread. The Barlow lens provides a total magnification factor of the equipment, increasing it, or decreasing it. For example, an 8-50x team with a 2x Barlow will act as 16-100x. The same rig with a 0.5x Barlow will perform in a magnification range of 4-25x.

This same change in magnification can also be achieved using other eyepieces (20x eyepieces instead of 10x, for example). The main advantage of the Barlow is that it causes a change in the working distance. Magnification factors GREATER than 1 decrease the working distance, and those greater than 1 increase it. Microfocus gives you free advice on the Barlow model that best suits your work. The most common case is that of the Barlow 0.5x, which raises the working distance to almost double, allowing to operate on the observed object in a very comfortable area. That is why its popularity in fields such as electronics, where it facilitates the use of the soldering iron, or microsurgery, where it allows the instruments to be manipulated freely