The History of Leica Binoculars 100 years

Leica binoculars – A century of path breaking inventions

More detailed viewing, more discoveries – for the last hundred years, Leica has played a key role in developing the culture of long-distance viewing. Leica Product Manager Tilman Taube presents six path breaking chapters of this success story.

On 14th May, 1907, after three years of research and testing, the first binoculars of the Ernst Leitz Company in Wetzlar, a 6 x18 Binocle, went into series production. A hundred years and countless ideas and innovations later, Leica binoculars are still providing hunters and nature watchers in particular with exciting new developments for viewing distant objects with superlative optics. Resolution, contrast, color rendering and image brightness have reached such a high standard that long-distance outdoor viewing has now become a fascinating experience rather than a necessity.

Leica sets standards in long-distance optics. Time and again. Leica’s leading position in long distance optics is the result of many years of experience, unique competence and consistent further development. Besides innumerable continuous improvements to Leica’s range of binoculars over the years, innovations of the Leitz/Leica company have made a key contribution to the general progress in long-distance optics. Until the Second World War, binoculars were primarily used for military applications. Soon after the introduction of the first Leitz prism binoculars in the year 1907, however, extra small and compact binocular models were also sold for visits to the theater and traveling. Their suitability for nature watching was not specifically mentioned in catalogs at the beginning of the 20th century, but fell under the generic term “travel”. Due to Dr. Ernst Leitz II’s passion for hunting, the Leitz company also developed special binoculars for hunting right from the beginning. More and more of a differentiation was made between lightweight, compact models for stalking and more powerful models for raised hide hunting.

Milestones in Leica binocular history. The hundred year road to Leica’s worldwide lead in long distance optics was paved with many small steps and outstanding milestones. The developments that culminated in the Ultravid and Geovid had modest beginnings.

An independent project right from the start : Binocle 6 x18 (1907 to approx. 1910) After three years of development, the first series-produced Leitz binoculars were shipped on 14th May, 1907. For the mechanical design, the engineers did not plow the conventional furrows of other binocular manufacturers, but took an independent approach based on patents from the year 1906. In those days, the casting technique was not sophisticated enough to allow the manufacture of perfect binocular bodies. After extensive tests, the Wetzlar company decided to use drawn tubing or hard rolled magnalium (alloy of magnesium and aluminum), a material with exceptionally good strength, density and weather resistance properties. Leitz patent no. 191758 was more effective for keeping dust and moisture out of the interior of the binoculars. Patent no. 192762 protected an innovative method of securing the prisms. Patent no. 2085506 used the base of the prism holder for adjustment. The adjustment screws were concealed by the leather covering and therefore protected from external intervention.

Early successes : Binodal/Militaris 6 x 21 (1908 to approx. 1919) The Binodal 6 x 21 is remarkable for its original design : The front and back caps of the prism housing are at the same time the bridges that connect the two halves. The expressive, wavy shape of the bridge on the side of the objectives makes these binoculars look strikingly different. The Binodal was also sold in an almost identical version under the name Militaris. Whereas earlier models do not feature a center rod, the revised version from 1913 onwards was produced with a center rod all the way through. The Binodal is also evidence that Leitz adopted the design for “prism binoculars with increased objective spacing” for some models after the Zeiss-Jena patent of 1893 expired in 1908. Independently of this, however, Leitz continued its models without increased objective spacing, such as the Binominia 4 x16, which was launched in September 1908.

Top model of the early years : Marinodoce 12 x 60 (1910 to approx. 1915) In 1910, the range of binoculars was extended to include models with higher magnification (10 x, 12 x and 18 x 46, later also 42 mm), of which the 10 x and 12 x magnifications were featured in the catalog and recommended as special binoculars for alpine pursuits and traveling. The binoculars in this series have an ergonomic design and are extremely light for their size, weighing a mere 1,000 g. The double-walled eye tubes are telescopic and serve as a lens hood. For the times, the models have considerably large fields of view (on average, subjective fields of 50° to 53°). Due to the small number produced and the short production time, they are extremely rare and therefore highly sought-after collector items. Because of their unusual shape, they are sometimes rather disrespectfully called “liver sausages”. Especially rare are models with 60 mm objective diameter like the one illustrated here, which is in a particularly good condition.

Pioneering in large-scale operations: Aviodix 10 x 50 brass binoculars (1911, 1917 to 1931) To meet the high requirements of the army and the navy, Leitz designed special binoculars for military applications: An 8 x 30 model in May 1911 was followed the same year by a 10 x 50 Porro II model with cast metal body, prism drum and drum cap and eye tube made of brass (weight 1,380 g). In his standard work “Binoculars and telescopes”, Dr. Hans T. Seeger says of this series : “The Leitz Porro II series from the time of the First World War is not only notable for its beautiful and practical exterior design the binoculars are particularly comfortable to hold – but also for its optical performance and mechanical stability.” He points out that many of the binoculars that are still in the possession of collectors today never had to be cleaned from the inside or re-adjusted and can still be used. In the course of the First World War, the 10 x 50 (the first model of the series) was joined by a 12 x 60 model for the navy and, from August 1916, a 7 x 50. The delivery books of Leitz binoculars reveal that the 7 x 50 and 10 x 50 brass binoculars were manufactured in large quantities for the German military from March 1917 onwards (from serial no. 60001). Leitz was therefore the first company to concentrate on larger Porro II design binoculars and be instrumental in their breakthrough. Dr. Seeger : “Leitz brass binoculars were the first Porro II models to enter the navy, where they were used for 5 decades. After the end of World War 1, the brass binoculars were sold for a few more years as civilian models, but gradually disappeared from the scene. Production was discontinued around 1931 after the decision had been made to replace them with Porro I models.

A new start and a technology leap : Leitz Amplivid 6 x 24 (1956 to 1962) The wide-angle Amplivid binoculars of 1956 were based on three Leitz patents of 1949 and 1953 and were an absolutely new development that was to pave the way for the tremendous success of pentaprism binoculars. Alfred Hengst (long-standing senior binocular designer of Leica) : “These binoculars stood out from earlier models due to their gigantic field of view of 212 m at a distance of 1000 m and their extremely elegant and compact design. For the first time in the history of hand-held telescopes, the designers used an inverting system consisting of a surface mirror (...) and a pentaprism.” Extreme wide-angle binoculars have become very rare and there are hardly any to be had on the market at the moment. Besides its significance as a “binocular milestone”, this is another reason why the Amplivid is still so popular.

Way ahead of its time : The first Leitz Trinovid series 7 x 42 and 8 x 40 (1958) In the further course of the development strategy that started with the Amplivid, a small series of 7 x 42 and 8 x 40 binoculars was produced in 1958. These models had a subjective field of view of 70° and 80° respectively (binoculars are regarded as wide-angle models from a field of view of 60° onwards). Unlike the Amplivid, they featured true internal focusing. These models were therefore the first to combine the two special features of modern high-quality binoculars – slender pentaprism design and internal focusing. For the first time, these binoculars were given the name Trinovid, for “Tri” (three) “Nov”el innovations: the compact, ergonomical design, the true internal focusing and the superlative optical performance. However, it was so expensive to produce these models that they cost 650 DM to buy – unaffordable for many customers at that time. Therefore, production of these first Trinovids was soon discontinued, which makes them coveted collector items today.

A far-sighted history. To be continued. The binoculars mentioned here are just a few of

the most important milestones on the road to the Ultravid and Geovid binoculars of today. They show the resolve and skill that have taken Leica to the top of the binocular market. Now as ever, Leica binoculars are the number one choice, particularly when there are important observations to be made as in 1968 on board the Apollo space missions or this year in bird counts in Costa Rica. And the story of Leica binoculars does not end here. Read on to find out how Leica’s latest developments in long distance optics have the optical, mechanical and electronic excellence to make nature watching even more exciting for you, too.