Zeiss neoprene stay-on cover: nice! (1 Viewer)

KorHaan · Mar 22, 2007

Hello all,

After having been nearly 2 years in the field with an uncovered Zeiss Diascope 65 angled, I decided to get me the new neoprene cover last saturday.

One reason for my purchase is that you get cold fingers using the naked scope, particularly unpleasant in winter, another reason is to protect the marvellous zoom eyepiece from rain/sleet/snow.

The cover fits like a glove, very neat. Only the focussing wheels and the rubber armoured underside of the prism housing are uncovered. The eyepiece cover is cupshaped and is attached to the main body cover by a single elastic band, and can be simply removed with a click mechanism. The eyepiece cover can quickly be removed and put back on without zips or velcro, it stays put quite well.

The same mechanism applies for the objective cover; simply put off and back on without zips or velcro. It can also be removed by a click mechanism in the elastic band that attaches to the main body cover ( the whole thing consists of 3 pieces as you might have guessed ).

I find the cover well padded, the eyepiece and objective parts included, but there is no special extra protection inside the latter, so the use of lens caps cannot be ruled out, especially in nonchalant transport.

I keep my scope in a Lowepro rucksack, so I don't need the original lens caps; I hardly ever transport the scope while it's attached to the tripod, so I only use the cover when I'm actually putting my scope up.

The eyepiece and objective covers hang by their elastic bands when I use the scope, they dangle a bit when there's wind but never get in the way.

The touch is very nice, since I don't use a pan handle I point the scope simply with one or two hands, thanks to the very smooth fluid Gitzo 2180 head. So far I haven't been out in the rain but I enjoyed scoping more with this cover. Good access to both focussing wheels and zooming from 15x to 45x and back goes without any problems.

All in all a very well made piece of equipment, this neoprene cover, and particularly nice when you don't use a pan handle on your tripod head, or when you use a ball head.
The only thing it lacks is a strap, there are no strap attachments and that is a bit of a pity, but I don't mind.

The price is 95 € for the 65, straight or angled, for the 85 straight or angled, I'm not certain but it could be the same price.

Greetings, Ronald

Paul Jarvis · Mar 22, 2007

When we pay good money for scopes like these or any scope for that matter it is always worth buying a soc case imo to protect them.

Steve Jones · Mar 23, 2007

I've got one for my Zeiss 65. It was a godsend when I was out in on-off rain showers on Anglesey recently, as its so easy to cover/un-cover the lens's.
The neoprene is quite thick and springy. Looks a good case, and as I recently had my scope replaced with a new one due to a quality problem, should keep the replacement in good condition.

jcwings · Mar 24, 2007

I have a different brand of cover for my Zeiss. I would love the neoprene case but why is it so darn expensive?

gerdwichers8 · Mar 24, 2007

jcwings said:
I have a different brand of cover for my Zeiss. I would love the neoprene case but why is it so darn expensive?

I invented a case myself, simply because the thing didn't excist, but this kind of secundary gear is sometimes outrageous.
May be they know we are desperate enough to buy it?

KorHaan · Mar 25, 2007

gerdwichers8 said:
I invented a case myself, simply because the thing didn't excist, but this kind of secundary gear is sometimes outrageous.
May be they know we are desperate enough to buy it?

I think they know that sooner or later we want extra protection.
When I bought the scope it came in a very basic simple cardboard box, body and zoom eyepiece were embedded in the cardboard seperately. It struck me as a bit odd that no case was provided with such a high quality optic instrument, as even the cheapest pair of bins comes with a case as a standard outfit.

Maybe I'm being too sensitive on this, but for the prices we are willing to pay there could be a little more service. It's like eating in a five star restaurant, the meal you ordered is exquisite but the waiter has the politeness of Basil Fawlty...

Anyway, I'm more than happy with this neoprene cover, it does the job well, excellent stuff. Unfortunately there's no money to purchase that cute little compact 8x20 Victory, but hey, you can't have it all, Herr Zeiss.

Greetings, Ronald

Jono L · Sep 8, 2007

One big problem with the neoprene case is that there is no cover to clip over the focussing mechanisms which means if you carry the scope around attached to the tripod a lot, this part of the scope if not protected at all. Additionally, they have attached the objective lens and eyepiece covers with a pathetically thin bit of elastic and a meagre little clip, so even a slight breeze can unclip the cover. I have resorted to putting a rubber band around the scope near the objective lens so the elastic holding the objective cover on does not have as much length to swing. This helps a bit and also stops the cover falling on the ground when it unclips itself.
Great scope, shame about the pricey case, but better than nothing I suppose.
Cheers
Jono Leadley.

KorHaan · Sep 9, 2007

Jono L said:
Additionally, they have attached the objective lens and eyepiece covers with a pathetically thin bit of elastic and a meagre little clip, so even a slight breeze can unclip the cover. I have resorted to putting a rubber band around the scope near the objective lens so the elastic holding the objective cover on does not have as much length to swing. This helps a bit and also stops the cover falling on the ground when it unclips itself.
QUOTE]

Hi Jono,

Yes, I too found the thin bit of elastic and the little clip a bit cheap, made me wonder how long it would hold up in rough field use. You solved it cleverly; I just put a piece of duct tape round the little clips so they're closed up permanently.
The SOC worked very well in the field, but it had also a big disadvantage I kind of ignored in the beginning. In hides, I used to sit down and put the tripod next to me, then rotate the scope round its axis, allowing me to view sideways through the angled scope. There's a little knob on the side of the scope to allow the scope to rotate, with locking/unlocking positions. It's on the tripod attachment ring somewhere half way.
The SOC covers this little knob, making it impossible to reach it let alone use it; rotation of the scope is no longer possible.

Sigh.

So I just took off the SOC and use the scope uncovered again. I just say to myself, hey, it's a waterproof piece of equipment, I don't have to pamper it, I just wanna use it, and I will use it, rain or shine! That helped; I don't care anymore about the weather, the scope holds up really well. I did order a 23x eyepiece though, just in case. I'm using the zoom at 16x-17x mostly and wish a bit more mag with good FOV.

Greetings, Ronald

SteveCA · Sep 12, 2007

KorHaan said:
Jono L said:

Additionally, they have attached the objective lens and eyepiece covers with a pathetically thin bit of elastic and a meagre little clip, so even a slight breeze can unclip the cover. I have resorted to putting a rubber band around the scope near the objective lens so the elastic holding the objective cover on does not have as much length to swing. This helps a bit and also stops the cover falling on the ground when it unclips itself.
QUOTE]

Hi Jono,

Yes, I too found the thin bit of elastic and the little clip a bit cheap, made me wonder how long it would hold up in rough field use. You solved it cleverly; I just put a piece of duct tape round the little clips so they're closed up permanently.
The SOC worked very well in the field, but it had also a big disadvantage I kind of ignored in the beginning. In hides, I used to sit down and put the tripod next to me, then rotate the scope round its axis, allowing me to view sideways through the angled scope. There's a little knob on the side of the scope to allow the scope to rotate, with locking/unlocking positions. It's on the tripod attachment ring somewhere half way.
The SOC covers this little knob, making it impossible to reach it let alone use it; rotation of the scope is no longer possible.

Sigh.

So I just took off the SOC and use the scope uncovered again. I just say to myself, hey, it's a waterproof piece of equipment, I don't have to pamper it, I just wanna use it, and I will use it, rain or shine! That helped; I don't care anymore about the weather, the scope holds up really well. I did order a 23x eyepiece though, just in case. I'm using the zoom at 16x-17x mostly and wish a bit more mag with good FOV.

Greetings, Ronald

Click to expand...

I just received the neoprene SOC and found it unusable for me as I often rotate the scope to allow other members of my family to observe wildlife. Everyone of us are a different height so the rotating collar gets used alot. The neoprene SOC prevents any use of this very useful feature. I also found that it was quite difficult to extend the lens hood with the SOC on. It can be done but not easily. So off it comes and will be returned tommorrow unfortunately. I was hoping that it would work for me but it just doesn't.

Zeiss neoprene stay-on cover: nice! (1 Viewer)

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KorHaan

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Paul Jarvis

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Steve Jones

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jcwings

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