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| The History of Binoculars at Carl Zeiss |
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1893 Patent application for a ”double telescope with increased objective distance”; patent comes into effect on July 9, 1893.
1894 Start of the serial production of the prism field glasses developed by Ernst Abbe.
1919 Introduction of widefield eyepieces in the construction of binoculars (inventor: Heinrich Erfle).
1933 Light metals are used for the housing instead of brass and zinc.
1935 The invention of the antireflective T-coating (Carl Zeiss T*® - ”T star” – coating of glass-to-air surfaces) increases the transmission of the binoculars by 50 % (inventor: Alexander Smakula).
1954 The use of teleobjective systems (two lens elements separated by air) leads to a reduction in the overall length of Carl Zeiss binoculars and to improved image quality with a larger relative aperture.
1956 By the integration of a flexible cuff gasket, models with central focusing are reliably protected against dust and humidity, something which was only possible in binoculars featuring individual eyepiece focusing before.
1958 Carl Zeiss launches the B-models with a large field of view – also suitable for use by eyeglass wearers (inventors: Horst Köhler and Helmut Knutti).
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| 8x20 binoculars from 1894. | 10x40 Classic binoculars. | Zeiss advertisement for binoculars. |
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1964 Carl Zeiss introduces binoculars with Schmidt’s direct-vision erecting prism under the Dialyt® trademark introduced by Hensoldt. The ray path is strongly ”condensed”, making the binoculars small and slim (heralds global trend toward slim binocular design).
1969 Revolutionary innovation on the binoculars market with the introduction of the pocket binoculars from Carl Zeiss (8x20). A biaxial, double joint allows the binoculars to be folded down to pocket size; the use of glass fiber-reinforced plastic for the housing makes the binoculars weigh only 135 g (marks the beginning of the worldwide trend toward the miniaturization of binoculars (inventor: Roland Leinhos).
1974 Pocket binoculars receive central focusing and high-eyepoint eyepieces for eyeglass-wearers.
1979 T* multilayer coating (Carl Zeiss T*®) increases light transmission and contrast of Carl Zeiss binoculars.
1982 Carl Zeiss introduces aspheric mirror objectives (for higher magnifications), shortening the overall length of binoculars and guaranteeing brilliant image quality.
1988 The P-Coating from Carl Zeiss – a phase-correcting coating for the roof surfaces of roof prisms – eliminates interference effects caused by phase shifts in the image erection process. This results in a further increase in contrast and resolution (inventor: Adolf Weyrauch).
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| 8x56 binoculars. | Longitudinal section through 20x60S binoculars. | Zeiss advertisement for binoculars. |
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1990 The DesignSelection pocket binoculars extend the broad spectrum of Carl Zeiss binoculars, giving special consideration to fashion aspects. Followed three years later by the large DesignSelection binoculars 7x45 B, 8x56 B, 10x56 B.
1990 The DesignSelection pocket binoculars extend the broad spectrum of Carl Zeiss binoculars, giving special consideration to fashion aspects. Followed three years later by the large DesignSelection binoculars 7x45 B, 8x56 B, 10x56 B.
1994 The monocular 5.6x60 N DesignSelection night scope offers superb performance and razor-sharp definition with 20,000x light amplification.
1997/99 Introduction of the Diafun® 8x30 B MC and 10 x 30 B MC models – light, attractively-priced pocket binoculars for sports and leisure activities.
2000 Carl Zeiss revolutionizes the binocular market with the introduction of the ”Advanced Optics System (AOS)” for the Victory binoculars. The technology using thin lens elements in the objective reduces the weight by up to 40% (inventor: Walter Besenmatter).
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