Handheld Binoculars

Function, Performance, Selection

Holger Merlitz

This book is published by Verlag Europa-Lehrmittel (in German language, ISBN 978-3-8085-5774-7). An English translation is currently in the making, and I am going to add a couple of reading samples to this page. Stay tuned and return to see more in the future.

200 pages (twocolumn, format 20cm x 24cm), more than 130 pictures, graphics and sketches, index with 500 keywords

• Introduction
• Binoculars: What is it all about?
  • The prism binocular: History and evolution
  • Porro- and roof prism binoculars
  • Magnification
  • Objective lens size and exit pupil
  • Angle of view and field of view
  • How to use binoculars
  • Every optical instrument is a compromise
• Part I: Fundamentals of binocular technology
  • Optical imaging
    • Light in vacuum
    • Snell's law
    • Refractive index and dispersion
    • Optical glasses
    • Raytracing of a lens
    • Imaging equation
    • Optical aberrations
      • Longitudinal chromatic aberration
      • Spherical aberration
      • Field curvature
      • Astigmatism
      • Coma
      • Lateral chromatic aberration
    • Optical design
  • The teleskope
    • Keplerian scope
      • Fundamentals
      • Focal ratio
      • Magnification and distortion
      • Angle of view
    • Galilean scope
    • The virtual image, depth of field
    • Physical optics
      • Huygens principle
      • Diffraction limited resolution
      • Anti-reflective coatings
  • Image erecting prisms
    • Porro-type systems
      • Total internal reflection
      • Porro I
      • Porro II
      • Perger-system (by Dr. Andreas Perger)
    • Roof-type systems
      • Reflective coatings
      • Phase-shift and its correction
      • Schmidt-Pechan system
      • Abbe-Koenig system
      • Uppendahl system
      • Hybrid mirror-prism systems
  • Anatomy of the binocular
    • Objective lenses
      • The achromatic lens
      • The ED-objective
      • The apochromatic lens
    • Eyepieces
      • Simple designs for narrow angles
      • Wideangle eyepieces
    • Mechanisms of focussing
      • Three different approaches
      • Short distance imaging
    • Ray bundle dimensions
      • Reduced path
      • Dimension of the aerial image
      • Dimension of the prism
    • Examples
      • 8x42 and 10x42 binocular
      • 7x50 wideangle
      • 8x30 and 6x30 wideangle
      • 8.5x44 superwide angle
    • Aperture and field stop
    • Sealing and purging of binoculars
  • A self-made high performance binocular (by Gerhard Eller)
  
  
• Part II: Optical vision and binocular performance
  • The Eye
    • The eye as an optical instrument
    • Visual field
    • Pupil diameter
    • Accommodation
    • Aberrations of the eye
    • Retinal photoreceptors
    • Daylight- and nightvision
    • Stiles-Crawford effect
    • Retinal data processing
  • Visual performance
    • Laws of perception
      • Ricco's, Piper's and Weber-Fechner's laws
      • Berek's model of target detection
    • Color vision
    • Stereoscopic perception
    • Saccadic image perception
    • Optical flow
    • Visual distortion
  • Eye and binocular: The man-machine
    • Luminous flux and magnification
    • Binocular performance: Resolution
      • Performance: Handheld vs. mounted
    • Performance: Target sighting
      • Which approach to binocular performance is correct?
    • Night sky observations
      • Stellar magnitudes
      • Astro-indices for limiting magnitudes
      • Limiting magnitudes in Berek's model
      • Comparison with observation data
    • Atmospheric scatter and seeing
    • Visual transmission, color-contrast and saturation
    • Depth of field
    • Depth resolution and cardboard effect
    • Distortion and globe effect
      • The search for the ideal distortion curve
    • Observation with spectacles
  
  
• Part III: Binoculars in application
  • Application profiles of binoculars
    • The all around field glass
    • Binoculars for travel and trek
    • Low light binoculars
    • Handheld binoculars in astronomy
    • Military binoculars
    • Naval binoculars
    • Image stabilized binoculars
    • Compact binoculars
    • Opera glasses
    • Digital binoculars
  • Testing binoculars
    • Laboratory tests
    • Quicktest in- and outside the store
      • First impression: Design, haptics, ergonomy
      • Checking for additional knock-out criteria
      • Evaluating optical performance
    • Field tests
      • Stray light resistance
      • Ghost images
      • Off-center sharpness
      • Low light performance
      • Chromatic aberration
      • The unspeakable: Ease of view
      • Ergonomics and haptics
  • How to purchase the right instrument
    • High-end binoculars
    • Mid-range binoculars: Seeking the compromise
    • Hunting the bargain
    • Ten commandments for choosing binoculars
  
  
• Appendix
  • Further reading