Joe - That lovely Zeiss leather case of yours (made from goat skin I believe) belonged to the generation of rubber covered binoculars of that era. I had several. When purchased second hand, that case often isn't included in the transaction and sold separately later.
The evolution of Zeiss case material and design has its own kind of evolution. Leather was a choice for obvious reasons, and older Zeiss cases for porros and roofs were well finished. But as you already know, leather dries out and becomes brittle - also hydroscopic.
The thinking going along with the change to rubber covered binoculars is obvious. Why create elaborate protection for something that is already well-protected, plus synthetic materials are far cheaper in crafting cases or pouches or whatever?.
Keeping your binocular and case together in the field, upzipping and zipping it, is a nuisance. I know, I have done that numerous times. You have a a rain guard to protect the oculars, but what about the objective lens? Keeping dust off them outside is not possible in normal use, but effective and inexpensive fixes in the way of covers exist - Butler Creek makes diameters of snap open lids that fit your Zeiss.
BTW, I have seen Zeiss 7x42s with the external coatings badly rubbed by careless cleaning. Yet when used in the field, one cannot see any difference whatsoever in optical performance.
Enjoy your Zeiss. They don't make them like that anymore.
John
Thanks John,.....I had them out this morning as it's been the 1st day without rain and very heavy cloud cover (4 days now),.....not the best conditions to judge any binocular.
I guess i can be grateful the Zeiss leather case was included on this used purchase,.....( goatskin too?
,.....and it really is super soft. I usually include everthing I had picked up with a sale of something,....but i see your point. Bet they can sell for $30 or $40 easy, for a like new one.
I'll be ordering a set of objective covers at some point. Someone mentioned the ones coming with the Zeiss 7x42 FL fit these older 7x42's as well,....so maybe that one. Generslly when i go out I only unzip it once and leave it around my neck. A light jacket can usually cover it fairly well if the weather gets bad, or pushing through heavy brush.
The rainguard is pretty big,....i much prefer friction fit circular covers with a small rubber connection, lile I fitted on the 8z30 B/GAT*P. Have to take some measurments and get that taken care of soon.
I have to say, with the sunny day and wonderful fall leaves color changes,.....there was no question the 7x42B/GAT*P* was something special! I went back and forth between it and my recently acquired 8x30B/GAT*P (also impressive!),.....but i gotta say the 7x42 has a slight edge. Both have rich and contrasty images, and it was very hard to say one was any sharper than the other for sure. But my short time using both i'd say the 7x42 is a "smidgen" sharper.
They are SO close, however, that it's too soon to say for sure. Possibly the slightly steadier holding ability of the lower power glass is giving that initial impression. I'd like to bench these on a table with some test patterns and take any movement out of the equation. I suspect any difference would be trivial.
The view is mesmerizing,....almost like you've simply been moved closer to your subject. The lowely 7 power magnification almost as easy to steady as my Leitz 6x24 Trinovid,....but of course with a brighter and more contrasty image.
For sh*ts and giggles I also got out my 50 year old or so Zeiss 8x30B Dialyt, and she still holds her own. :t: Totally clean internals and pristine lenses help i'm sure. The sharpness of this i've never had any issue with,....it's right up there at least near the best. But there was definately a bit more flare present that was slightly noticable and a little distracting at times in certain lighting situations.
I even spent about a half hour making up a new leather strap for the 7x42B/GAT*P* I had picked up 2 nice 1/2" "black" Latigo leather strap material a week ago. I finally got around to cutting one down to length, drilling the holes and adding the razor slices to fit the double sided mushroom shape connectors. The brown one shown earlier in the pics i had just borrowed off an old Nippon Kogaku, but black matches this better.
The 1/2" Latigo strips are super soft and flexable,.....usually used for horse reigns and such. I fitted a 1-1/2" wide leather slide section on for comfort behind the neck, and i'm good to go. Nothing like leather around the neck if it's soft and wide!
.....off to the woods.
cheers,
Joe T
