A method of producing a prism comprising a first prism component and a
second prism component that are joined together along a partial
reflection plane that is inclined with respect to the optical axis. The
method has steps comprising measuring the refractive index for multiple
base materials constructing the first prism component and the second
prism component and joining the base materials having approximately the
same refractive index measurements together along a partial reflection
plane in such a manner that the refractive index measurements are
associated with specified positions during the course of joining.