Binocular Microscope:

In a binocular microscope, one objective and two eyepieces are used. The object A is placed in front of the objective and is well illuminated. The beam of light from A after passing through the objective O is split up into two paths by the reflecting prism P₁. One of the beams after passing through P₂, forms the image of A and the first principal focal plane of E₁. Similarly, the other beam reflected through P₃ forms the image of A at the first principal focal plane of E₂. By a rack and pinion arrangement both the eyepieces E₁ and E₂ can be adjusted as desired.

Binocular microscope has an advantage over ordinary microscope when it is necessary to make the observations for a long time. A binocular microscope is less tiring to the eyes and is more comfortable. These microscopes are employed to study in detail biological specimens.