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| A Tradition Spanning Over 100 Years: Binoculars from Carl Zeiss |
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Although Ignazio Porro invented the principle of using prisms for image erection in telescopes and although other scientists before Abbe attempted to produce prism binoculars, It was Ernst Abbe who finally achieved a breakthrough. Abbe’s major improvement consisted of the combination of two monoculars to obtain a binocular telescope using Helmholtz’s telestereoscope: the large distance between the objective lenses allowed the generation of an image with an improved impression of depth.
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| ”Double telescope with increased objective distance”; the prisms are shown in pink. | The 8x20 binocular, developed by Abbe in 1984. |
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Particularly, Ernst Abbe solved the technical problems involved in the production of prism binoculars. Schott supplied a crown glass material with sufficient light transmission for the prisms, and at Carl Zeiss the foundations were laid to permit efficient mass production. On October 1, 1894, after the first patent application was turned down due to an existing patent granted to Porro, the Zeiss works were awarded a patent for the ”double telescope with increased objective separation”, retroactive to 1893.
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