My kingdom for a Nikon Edg 8x42 tethered objective lens cap (2 Viewers)

[GrandNagus50]

Not really, but I lost one somehow on a trip overseas and now it appears it is, strictly speaking, irreplaceable. I dutifully contacted Nikon in search of a replacement. I feared they would ask me (again) to send the binoculars in for a "free" repair, as they did when I lost one of the thin rubber eyepiece caps a few years ago. This free repair cost me $15 in shipping costs to obtain an item that could have been sent through the mail for fifty cents.

But I digress. This time, Nikon assured me that they would supply the part for free, as do many of their competitors in the optics business (even Bushnell). But then I got the dreaded message that the part is on "backorder." With Nikon, especially with discontinued products, this is code for "we will never have this part available again." I am not holding my breath.

So this post is a shot in the dark, as I wonder whether anyone else has had to replace this particular part. I know there are generic tethered lens caps out there. They are inexpensive. They will never fit quite the same as the Nikon ones, as Nikon designed a clever ridge on the binoculars to old the uniquely-shaped tether-rings. These were designed so the caps were really unlikely to ever fall off. But I managed to lose one anyway :-(.

I measured the objective lens end of the binoculars and it seems around two inches across, or around 51mm. I will probably just try ordering something that I think might fit, and if I am wrong I will try the next closest size. Not a huge gamble here. But I do wond if this has happened to anyone else, and I guess I need to vent just a small bit about how Nikon's support for even their "premium" products is fairly short-lived.

 

[NDhunter]

Keep the faith, many companies have a big slowdown right now. The service area at Zeiss USA is off
duty right now, on furlough, and will handle repair or service things a bit later.

So, I believe you will get a new cover, just have patience. They told you it is backordered.

You will find the same at many companies right now.
Jerry

 

[dries1]

I have a few EDGs and my solution is that I went to B&H and bought a few Terra 8X42 cases, I store them in the case without the objective covers. Works fine for me.

Andy W.

 

[GrandNagus50]

Thanks

Thanks for the replies. Really, as I anticipated there might be none.
Yes, there is hope for "backordered," but I will add some backstory here: some years ago I lost the rainguard for my Nikon SE 10 x42's. I was told it was "backordered." That was the last I ever heard. I still own the SE's, which are wonderful binoculars, except in a downpour.

On the plus side, of course I was able to find a substitute rainguard for the SE's, just as I can find substitute tethered caps for my EDG binocs. And as one of my respondents indicated, objective caps really aren't essential. It's just that I tend to be a bit OCD about my optics, especially expensive ones.

Doug Greenberg

 

[dries1]

The SE glass is no longer serviced by Nikon, at least it is a porro and there are a few places where they can be serviced - except the rubber eye cups. I am surprised no one has made replacements with a 3D printer yet, well they may have, but I have not seen any.
I am not sure Nikon services anything anymore. They customer service, well...I can't say the word here.

Andy W.

 

[[email protected]]

Not really, but I lost one somehow on a trip overseas and now it appears it is, strictly speaking, irreplaceable. I dutifully contacted Nikon in search of a replacement. I feared they would ask me (again) to send the binoculars in for a "free" repair, as they did when I lost one of the thin rubber eyepiece caps a few years ago. This free repair cost me $15 in shipping costs to obtain an item that could have been sent through the mail for fifty cents.

But I digress. This time, Nikon assured me that they would supply the part for free, as do many of their competitors in the optics business (even Bushnell). But then I got the dreaded message that the part is on "backorder." With Nikon, especially with discontinued products, this is code for "we will never have this part available again." I am not holding my breath.

So this post is a shot in the dark, as I wonder whether anyone else has had to replace this particular part. I know there are generic tethered lens caps out there. They are inexpensive. They will never fit quite the same as the Nikon ones, as Nikon designed a clever ridge on the binoculars to old the uniquely-shaped tether-rings. These were designed so the caps were really unlikely to ever fall off. But I managed to lose one anyway :-(.

I measured the objective lens end of the binoculars and it seems around two inches across, or around 51mm. I will probably just try ordering something that I think might fit, and if I am wrong I will try the next closest size. Not a huge gamble here. But I do wond if this has happened to anyone else, and I guess I need to vent just a small bit about how Nikon's support for even their "premium" products is fairly short-lived.

I have three EDG's the 8x32, 8x42 and the 10x. Luckily, I have the objective covers for all three and they all fit tight. I had an EDG 10x32 once that had loose fitting objective covers that kept falling off. I never could get any from Nikon after several attempt's so I just gave up. I tried several aftermarket objective covers including the Opticron and none will fit correctly because of the ridge Nikon designed into the objective end of the binocular. You can get them over the bump but they look really bad. So forget that. Doesn't that suck that Nikon EDG's require special objective covers and Nikon doesn't even have any if you lose them. Just get a Zeiss Conquest/Terra 8x42 case and forget the objective covers as Andy say's. I keep all my EDG's in one. The EDG's are still my favorite binoculars. Buttery smooth focuser and absolutely perfect optics.

https://www.adorama.com/zscbct42.ht...2JfjpjAhsbBoC_B0QAvD_BwE&utm_source=adl-gbase

 

[GrandNagus50]

Apologies to Nikon (to a point)

Hallelujah!
I did indeed receive a pair of objective lens caps for my Nikon EDG 8 x42! They arrived via UPS, for free!

So Nikon has not abandoned support for these excellent but discontinued binoculars, at least not yet. Kudos for Nikon in this instance!

But I see people are hoping for rubber eyecups for the SE binoculars. Those have been gone for some time, unfortunately. It's one reason I don't use my 10x42 SE's much. You can, by the way, help the rubber eyecups to last longer if you treat them periodically with a rubber/vinyl protectant, the kind used on automobiles.

 

[SeldomPerched]

Apologies to Nikon (to a point)

Hallelujah!
I did indeed receive a pair of objective lens caps for my Nikon EDG 8 x42! They arrived via UPS, for free!

So Nikon has not abandoned support for these excellent but discontinued binoculars, at least not yet. Kudos for Nikon in this instance!

But I see people are hoping for rubber eyecups for the SE binoculars. Those have been gone for some time, unfortunately. It's one reason I don't use my 10x42 SE's much. You can, by the way, help the rubber eyecups to last longer if you treat them periodically with a rubber/vinyl protectant, the kind used on automobiles.

Hi Doug,

May I ask which country you and your Nikon support was in? Just wondering in case I have any replacement accessory or service problems; I'm in Britain. The impression I get on Birdforum is that Germany may offer the best service response for Nikon, but I could be wrong.

Talking of rubber protection, I think the instruction manual for my first car mentioned using talc to keep the rubber sealing strips at the bottom of the wind-down windows supple; would that be right? Might be worth trying on objective covers, done carefully.

Tom

 

[GrandNagus50]

Hi Doug,

May I ask which country you and your Nikon support was in? Just wondering in case I have any replacement accessory or service problems; I'm in Britain. The impression I get on Birdforum is that Germany may offer the best service response for Nikon, but I could be wrong.

Talking of rubber protection, I think the instruction manual for my first car mentioned using talc to keep the rubber sealing strips at the bottom of the wind-down windows supple; would that be right? Might be worth trying on objective covers, done carefully.

Tom

I am in the United States. I must say at this point that more time has passed since I had this experience.