Let's identify Deckard's binoculars (Blader Runner 2049)

Dagobah Don

Dagobah Don

Sr Member
I think it's a found object. The "optical viewer" signage on the front looks inherent to the thing. I was thinking some kind of digital video camera on its side, like a Flip video (not that brand, obviously).
blade-runner-2049-svcc-20170014.jpgblade-runner-2049-svcc-20170s014.jpg
 
Banquo Fett said:
Wow. Impressive find McFlyte!
Click to expand...

Thanks. It's hard to get a sense of scale from the pics from the con, but that screen grab from the trailer shows they're fairly large. At first I thought it was a re-purposed compact camera, but that's no where near the size/depth of the actual prop.

While I agree it looks like a found item, after some extensive searching I found nothing like it (although I'm not an expert and it's all about search terms). The 'optical viewer' label is reminiscent of equipment from maybe the 60/70s - although I have a feeling that's a red herring. Would be great to have a higher resolution of the label, could indicate what it was borrowed from. 'Optical viewer' sounds like a camera of some sort, perhaps a twin reflex camera, where one lens exposes the film and the other lens is used as the 'viewer'.

However, the reason I think it could be a herring is that the whole unit is quite large, and the other design elements don't seem to be the same vintage as the label. So it could be an original prop.
 
Great insight. But the fact that you found something with so many similar characteristics makes me think it is a found object. Too many coincidences.
 
Wired has an article about Blade Runner, Near the bottom theres a few props shown with some explanations next to them. Here's what they say about the binoculars:
"DECKARD’S BINOCULARS Inspired by real-life military rangefinders used for spotting targets miles away. Harlocker miniaturized them, painted them red, and gave them infrared night vision and *thermal-imaging capabilities."

https://www.wired.com/2017/09/behind-the-scenes-blade-runner-2049-sequel/?mbid=nl_101017_daily_intro
 
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Couple more pics scoured from the web (not mine):
 

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Thanks so much. Didn't find those previously. Here is the back of the viewer shown in a screen grab.back.jpg
 
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Just uploaded and ordered this awesome design through the Shapeways site. Hey, question for people who have made this or are planning on doing it. How are you going to get the graphics on the clear plex lenses? I’m a bit stumped on how to approach this. Are their people who can laser etch this as a one off?

any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Interesting please post images on how those prints come out. I printed this on an upgraded Wanhao D6/MonopriceUltimate. Don't have a laser cutter either. But anyone who has one can do this easily:local makerspace? My thought was to use 2-3mm lexan and create a 3d printed mask for a thin layer of silicone to ad the graphics. That way I can color it too if I decide to go with tinted. Still working on the paint before I get to that though.
 
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