Zeiss: fine optics, but erm, how to protect them?

[Highburymark]

Just picked up a pair of Zeiss Terra 8x25. Fits in work case and great for watching the ring necked parakeets which have taken over London. Very happy with the views - very crisp and clear for such a tiny binocular. Fine control of CA. Comfortable, great eye relief, nice focus, small and light. Pretty much perfect, in fact.

But I’m amazed that it comes with no end caps. No rain guard. Not probably big news to those on the forum who are familiar with these compact bins - but I can’t work out why they wouldn’t include some protection for the glass. Not an issue of Brexit-scale importance perhaps, but slightly baffling.

[Ruud]

I suppose this small case replaces end caps and everything.

They look like nice terrestrial binoculars. Congratulations!

[Icesheet]

I had a pair of these and let them go which I regret now. There was quite some discussion about this on the bird forum. However, at their price point the optics compete with the top of the line compacts binos so I guess they had to cut costs somewhere. For me that is evident in the slightly cheaper housing, lack of accessories and narrower FOV. That is something well worth living with if you don’t want to shell out nearly 3x more on the Zeiss Victory or Swarovski CL compacts. There were a lot of suggestions where to pick up suitable accessories at a reasonable cost. Enjoy them, great little bins!

[BinocularSky]

If you keep them in their case when not in use, that's that bit of the protection problem solved. If  they're slung round your neck, the objectives are pointing down, so don't really need caps. You could get a Bino-bandit for the eyepiece end. If you don't know what it is, I did a mini-review of this in the June 2019 Binocular Sky Newsletter (page 9).

[Highburymark]

8 hours ago, BinocularSky said:

If you keep them in their case when not in use, that's that bit of the protection problem solved. If  they're slung round your neck, the objectives are pointing down, so don't really need caps. You could get a Bino-bandit for the eyepiece end. If you don't know what it is, I did a mini-review of this in the June 2019 Binocular Sky Newsletter (page 9).

Excellent - thanks Steve.