Hi Tim
Just for info Hawke supply 4 individual rubber lens caps with their Endurance and Sapphire compacts.
I do think it is poor of these premium brands to neglect this. Some Zeiss, Leica? don't even supply a case (in some cases) if I understand it correctly.
I have an RSPB 8x20 HD and it has a nice compact leather case with a slightly reinforced bottom so goes some way to protection of the objectives in transit.
My Pentax 8x20 DCF ED has a leather case but a flexible bottom which I only partially trust.
I actually use some of the caps from my Hawke Endurance 10x25 to help protect these other bins as they fit perfectly to all three. In fact Hawke recently exchanged my 10x25 and I was glad to get a few more of the caps as a result. If I ever need more I will contact them.
Basically I totally agree with you on this topic. It is simply poor that this is neglected by these superior brands.
I wouldn't go as far as to say it was a deal breaker. As was said earlier there's a perfectly legitimate philosophy for not including extra paraphernalia in the compact class. You either buy into it or not. Similarly, I'm extremely unlikely to use whatever bag comes with a bin no matter what. I have accumulated some very useful Lowe Pro pockets and can easily get MOLLE (MOdular Light-weight Load -carrying Equipment) compliant pouches for my 5.11 2 Banger bag if needs be for compacts. Bubble wrap is an excellent, cheap and replacable impact cushion. Also a few sachets of dessicant thrown in for good measure.
Perhaps get to try some Hawke bins. They suit me very well such as my Sapphire 8x43 ED but then I don't wear specs so I am fortunate not to be limited by this issue. I don't really know how anyone can enjoy a binocular while wearing glasses but then I suppose if needs must then it's different. I certainly don't like the sound of potentially damaging expensive eyewear.
Yes, Hawke seem very well respected and plenty of bang for buck. Some of their models have excellent ER I believe. I'm afraid to say, 'Needs must when the devil drives' on this one. The devil has the car keys on this occasion. Yeah, eyes permitting, I would look to avoid having to switch to new glasses for a good few years yet. New, flatter fronted frames however might 'buy' me 2-3 mm in ER. That's about £250 per mm ! Binocular I expect to last at least a decade of use and being jostled around in my EDC. Where's the balance of economies in that equation? I'm too tired to think it through right now.
BTW My Pentax was an ebay bin I bought for £19. It was out of colimation, basically seemingly thrown together by whoever assembled it. I dismantled, collimated and reassembled and now I have to say it's kind of one of my favourite bins because it seems to have the colour/contrast recipe very nicely implemented. It's perhaps very slightly on the warm side but I like that as opposed to the RSPB which veers to the cooler side. My other Pentax is the famous Papilio 6.5x21 but this is on the cooler side also.
Working on something is a tremendous way to bomd with it I find. The critical fractions involved in a re-colimation must be nerve wracking. I'll have to see it done on Youtube.
Getting a bin where you enjoy it's white balance is very nice as I'm sure you will know well from photography. I would try and pay attention to this some also but I'm sure you will know what you like when you see it..
Yes, it is. Less so in an age of auto wb which in theory is all set against the tried and trusted 18% grey card. Nothing can top that and was part of my wider kit as a technician. Caste is different though. On a bin it is what it is. No B&W filter threads for Cokin system rigs etc. I personally favour the sort of National Geographic rich saturation which comes from deliberate under/over exposure on E6/c41. Nowadays it can be graded and histograms biased in a post production suite.
On a bin I would be inclined to believe that this saturation comes at the opportunity cost of some brightness. One of the limitations of this bin I have is that it's dawn and dusk performance is pretty impressive at the expense of saturation and, to some extent, contrast. Deep blacks therefore look grey and detail is clipped out at the top end.
No getting round the laws of physics right? Colour rendition and how it pleases the eye is as personal as smell or touch. A manufacturer must have to make a judgement call on it's coatings and how this will impinge on the final image.
Real? There is, imho, 'real' once you put the acetate in the first bath of dev as you can pull or push the timings to suit. The decisions are creative from the second you hit the shutter button. Same with the second it comes down the firewire cable etc.
Real, in the moment, with a binocular is as real as it gets. Chose your coatings accordingly right?
Tm