Uppendahl prism

An Uppendahl prism is an erecting prism, i.e. a special reflection <a href="/facts/Prism_(optics)/eodBFF70">prism</a> that is used to invert an image (rotation by 180°). The erecting system consists of three partial prisms made of optical glass with a high <a href="/facts/Refractive_index/yjkzvgeE">refractive index</a> cemented together to form a symmetric assembly and is used in <a href="/facts/Microscopy/GpHlElDS">microscopy</a> as well as in <a href="/facts/Binoculars/DPHVmKIL">binoculars</a> technology.

In the past the Uppendahl prism system, for example in the <a href="/facts/Trinovid/EGKV4dJa">Trinovid</a> binoculars series from <a href="/facts/Ernst_Leitz_GmbH/MHdUdH6H">Leitz</a> (since 1986 <a href="/facts/Leica_Camera/kCdXV5jD">Leica</a>), was commercially offered in some binoculars. The Trinovid series binoculars were introduced in 1958 and used at the time patented moving internal optical lenses between the ocular lens group and the prism assembly within the housing for <a href="/facts/Binoculars/DPHVmKIL">focusing</a>. Like the much more common optical lenses located between the objective lens group and the prism assembly method, this <a href="/facts/Binoculars/DPHVmKIL">central internal focussing</a> method does not change the volume of the binoculars. <a href="/facts/Bausch_%2526_Lomb/pDoWkovR">Bausch & Lomb</a> Elite and Browning 7×35 binoculars, both made in Japan during the late 1980s to early 1990s, also used Uppendahl prisms.
In the early 2020s the commercial market share of Uppendahl prism type standard binoculars was nil. The Leica Geovid R (laser) rangefinder binoculars series and 7×24 Rangemaster monocular using a (modified) Uppendahl prism system were still commercially available.

Uppendahl prism open-in-new

Uppendahl prism