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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

I broke my SF so you don't have to... (1 Viewer)

I'm reminded of a recent post by Gijs (Feb 14) on the Leica pages about the SV delay, which was an epic delay.

It had to do, in part, with casting.

Deja vu all over again?

Mark
 
Steve C said:
That looks like a poorly cast, faulty part. From the look of it, it looks like cast aluminum to me. The break looks exactly like crappy cast aluminum. In my experience cast aluminum tends to break easily from blunt force trauma. I've seen plenty. If you look, the bright shiny parts that indicate where it broke are not around the whole needed area of contact. It looks like there was only something like half of the needed area that was cast properly, the black places did not cast or set properly. The black finish should never have been able to penetrate where it did. If the whole thing was cast properly it may well have never broken. We see that sort of thing a lot on cast (miscast) pieces on farm machinery. That kind of work does not seem to be as well done anywhere anymore.
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I agree with you Steve. It looks like aluminum but isn't the Zeiss supposed to be Mg? It looks like a faulty cast.
 
All of Zeiss's promotional pdfs for the SF give the material as being magnesium, so I can't imagine them not continuing that throughout the whole body as the hinge section is quite bulky. Can anyone get a definitive answer otherwise it's just supposition.
 
[email protected] said:
I have seen fractured molds of aluminum and that is what it looks like to me. Usually Mg doesn't appear as porous.
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Dennis

I presume by molds you mean castings.
I haven't seen many fractured castings of either material but I wouldn't try to tell them apart based on the naked eye.
Any difference in porosity you saw might have just been the reason for the fracture, but perhaps you were referring to the apparent granularity of the surface not porosity as such. In which case you are doing better than I can on my computer because boosting the mag to see the surface quality just gets me nowhere as the image quality deterorates.

Lee

Lee
 
Hi guys and gals!

Thanks for your many supportive and helpful replies!

It's never good to damage one of your prized possessions in this way... :-C

I'm sorry the pics of the bins aren't better. I only had a handheld compact camera to work with, and now the bins are in the mail, so I can't take any more pictures for a while.

Anyway, they should arrive at Zeiss' sometime in the next couple of weeks, and then I will hopefully know more about what has happened to the bin, and if it can be fixed and for how much...
 
Isn't the SF warranty no fault for the 1st 5 years ?
If so, it should cost you nothing but shipping to get them repaired.
It is no fault for 5 with my HT.
 
HighNorth said:
Hi guys and gals!

Thanks for your many supportive and helpful replies!

It's never good to damage one of your prized possessions in this way... :-C

I'm sorry the pics of the bins aren't better. I only had a handheld compact camera to work with, and now the bins are in the mail, so I can't take any more pictures for a while.

Anyway, they should arrive at Zeiss' sometime in the next couple of weeks, and then I will hopefully know more about what has happened to the bin, and if it can be fixed and for how much...
Click to expand...

It looks you are covered, at least in the USA. This sticker is on the outside
of the box.

I commented on the Zeiss wty. found inside from the literature provided.

Jerry
 

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On the warranty card supplied with my bin, it says it covers labour and materials for the repair of manufacturing defects for a period of 10 years, but does NOT cover damage resulting from improper use.
 
Highnorth,

There is no way this should be improper use - this is supposed to be the 'best birding binocular' in the world. Of course it needs to be able to hold up to some bumps and bruises along the way and not snap like a kids toy with the 1st drop.

I'm sure Zeiss will look after you. If not, expect a **** storm here, and then Zeiss would realize the error of their ways.;)
 
Agreed, a 1m drop is not improper use, and a £2k+ Alpha should survive that if the same company can make a bin that survives being dragged behind a 4x4 down a rough track for a 1/3rd of the price.
 
james holdsworth said:
Highnorth,

There is no way this should be improper use - this is supposed to be the 'best birding binocular' in the world. Of course it needs to be able to hold up to some bumps and bruises along the way and not snap like a kids toy with the 1st drop.

I'm sure Zeiss will look after you. If not, expect a **** storm here, and then Zeiss would realize the error of their ways.;)
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Good to know that the guys and gals on birdforum have me covered at least! :t:
 
Zeiss should take care of you.

I can't wait to try an SF. I may upgrade to the 10x in the future.

But why on earth did they places 'Zeiss' instead of their cool Zeiss logo on the end of the bridge? It looks cheesy.
 

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Steve C's comment (#32) highlighted clear evidence of a manufacturing defect, in that the finish was able to penetrate the casting quite noticeably.
I can't speak for Norway, but here in the US any lawyer would be happy to take the case.
 
etudiant said:
Steve C's comment (#32) highlighted clear evidence of a manufacturing defect, in that the finish was able to penetrate the casting quite noticeably.
I can't speak for Norway, but here in the US any lawyer would be happy to take the case.
Click to expand...

I think I want to hear what Zeiss has to say first, before I start suing left and right! ;)
 
The aluminum post came from me. I said it looks like that and I'd better be sure to qualify that. I can't see from the picture if that part is cast integrally to the frame. If it is, it has to be the same material as the frame. If it is not, then it MIGHT be Al. I would hate to think Zeiss would stoop to that point and I feel pretty strongly that they would not.

I have seen a fractured Mg alloy binocular housing (I wish I still had it, but it went to the scrap dealer along with some other junk porros ) and it looked different in coloration from aluminum. But I can't put silver nitrate to a picture. I said it looks like aluminum. Of all people I should have known how that could have or would have been interpreted. So I wanted to say looks like aluminum. I think that is what I said. I did not want to seem to be casting aspersions.

However, after having said what I just said...that looks like a clear example of faulty casting...with whatever material, I stand by that comment. If that seems to be an aspersion, so be it. It looks faulty to me. I should have left it at that, my mistake.

HN, you are correct, let Zeiss take care of it. If it's faulty they will most likely bend over backwards to rectify the problem.
 
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HighNorth said:
Still, nothing is nicer at those temperatures than sitting outside in a wood-fired hot tub and swilling whisky and beer while wearing a huge Russian fur hat! ;)
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To ease the pain of the SF`s absence, try this combination of coffee and whiskey.
1) Hot whiskey with brown sugar dissolved in it.
2) Double shot of espresso.
3) Very cold heavy cream that has been very slightly whipped (enough to make it light enough to float on top, but not so light that it will dissolve).
4)Layer these three ingredients in that order in a small glass, stratified.
5)Take sips and all three substances will mix in your mouth.
 
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