Roof Prism Types

Porro prism vs roof prism.

Roof prism types.

The simplest roof prism is the amici roof prism with other common roof prism designs being the abbe koenig prism the schmidt pechan prism and probably the best known being the roof pentaprism pictured here. If you see a pair of straight tube binoculars there s a good chance you re looking at a set equipped with roof prisms. Essentially they all maintain the same basic function to keep light waves entering and exiting the binocular in a straight line. Now there are a few variations of the roof prism design.

It uses an amici roof followed by a rhomb. Both types of prism have advantages and disadvantages. There are three main types of roof prism binoculars namely amici schmidt pechan and abbe koenig. As these prisms are easier to make they are cheaper to buy.

The only current bino use of the amici roof prism i can think of is the apm apo 90 bt. Binoculars with roof prisms are straighter and more compact. Zeiss has famously made a number of a k binos over the years though most roof binos use s p. They re more compact and streamlined lighter weight and much easier to carry around than the bulky porro style binos.

The prisms are usually coated to increase reflectivity and to keep the light waves in the right direction. Roof prism binoculars vs porro prism binoculars a comparison roof prism binoculars.