Binoculars

My in-laws, in support of my growing bird watching fascination, graciously purchased for me a set of binoculars for my birthday.

I have never owned binoculars.

All of my historic magnification viewing has been through telescopes or camera lenses. When I first tried out my new binoculars I was stunned! Depth! There was depth!

I agree that this is really obvious and something I probably should have anticipated. Still, this fascination got me wanting to learn a bit more about the history of Binoculars.

Without looking, take a guess as to when Binoculars were invented! Once you make your guess, proceed to the comments where the rest of this post pans out.

7 thoughts on “Binoculars

  • 6/12/2014 at 5:32 pm
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    I guessed late 1600’s. This was based off the fact that the telescope originated in the early 1600’s. And sure, some folks tried simple ‘dual telescope’ binoculars back then, but these don’t really make binoculars. Most modern binoculars have a classy Porro prism. This is a double Prism which allows for much higher magnification. The Porro prism was invented in 1850 with modern day binoculars appearing shortly thereafter.

    Fascinating!

    Reply
  • 6/12/2014 at 9:09 pm
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    Next up spotting scope! Have you gotten a Sibley’s Guide to birds yet?

    Reply
      • 6/13/2014 at 2:48 pm
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        For a field guide I like the Peterson one, I guess I incorrectly assumed you had one of those already. The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior, is a massive book with specifics on different species habits and behaviors. I guess nowadays you can look this up on the internet, but I enjoy having the huge book lying around.

        Reply
  • 6/12/2014 at 10:51 pm
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    I guessed last Tuesday. I figured it was either really close….or a really long time ago.

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    • 6/13/2014 at 8:10 am
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      Your guess of Tuesday was 14 years more accurate than my guess of 1680. Bravo!

      Reply

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