The prism group is one of the widest in the manufacturer's catalogue: right angle, penta, half pentagonal, cube, roof, special-shaped, Porro, dove, Powell-form, Paul, Brewster isosceles and rhombic prisms, plus a general line for instrument-specific shapes. That breadth matters because prism choice is rarely interchangeable — a penta prism holds a 90-degree deviation constant even when the part is slightly misaligned, a dove prism rotates an image as it turns, and a Porro pair erects the image in a binocular. Each family on this page maps to the geometry that does that job.
One documented listing shows the coated end of the range: a stock high-reflective right-angle prism with a dielectric coating, sold as a light splitter prism with a 1-piece minimum. It sits at the junction of this page and the beam splitters page — but note exactly what the record holds: this listing's name and its dielectric coating. The catalogue also carries a prism group named Cube, but that is a group name only — no construction and no splitting application is recorded for it, and neither can be inferred from the group name. Uncoated and metal-coated variants serve the simpler folding jobs in periscopes, rangefinders and viewing instruments.
Documented Prism Families
| Family | Typical job in the optical train |
|---|---|
| Right angle | 90-degree deviation or total-internal-reflection fold; hypotenuse can carry a splitter coating |
| Penta | Constant 90-degree deviation for alignment and surveying instruments |
| Half pentagonal | Constant 45-degree deviation for compact layouts |
| Cube | Prism group name recorded in the catalogue only — no cube splitter construction or listing is recorded; construction and availability confirmed per enquiry |
| Roof | Image erection in binoculars and spotting instruments |
| Porro | Image erection and path folding in binocular systems |
| Dove | Image rotation proportional to prism rotation |
| Rhombic | Beam displacement without angular deviation |
| Brewster isosceles | Low-loss deviation at Brewster geometry for laser work |
| Paul / special-shaped | Instrument-specific geometries to drawing |
Specifying a Prism
A prism enquiry needs the family, the leg or aperture dimensions, the glass (state the optical glass required by your design in the enquiry), and the coating decision for each working face: uncoated, anti-reflection coated, metal coated or dielectric high-reflective. Faces that work by total internal reflection are left uncoated; faces that split or transmit carry the coating. If the prism is one element of a larger assembly, say so — the same catalogue covers the windows and mirrors it will sit between.
For a guided tour of what each prism family does to a beam and an image — including the dove prism's rotation behaviour and the pechan and Schmidt-pechan forms used in compact erecting systems — read the types of optical prisms guide. Buyers who already know the family they need can go straight to the right-angle prisms and wedge prisms detail pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the minimum order for prisms?
The documented stock right-angle splitter prism lists a 1-piece minimum. Other families are quoted per specification — send the family and dimensions and the quotation states the minimum for that part.
Can prisms be supplied with a splitter coating?
Yes — a high-reflective dielectric-coated right-angle light splitter prism is a documented stock listing. The catalogue's cube entry is a prism group record only and no cube splitter listing is recorded, so a cube construction would have to be confirmed in the quotation.
Which glass are the prisms made from?
No single glass is recorded across the prism families. State the glass on your drawing if your design calls for a specific grade or melt; the prism listings used for this page do not establish a single glass grade across the family, so the material of a given prism is confirmed in the enquiry.
Request a Quotation
Tell us the component, material, dimensions and coating you need. Pricing and lead time for your specification are confirmed in the written quotation.