Swift Storm King 7x50 (1 Viewer)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/95019762@N07/

Bought this Storm King MK11 as an addition to the collection, I don't know a lot about it but they don't seem to come up very often. Mint and obviously a Marine binocular. 383ft@1000yds, individual eye focus, fully multi coated optics and stated to be waterproof, though not sure I would test that. A bit large and weighty but nonetheless a beautiful instrument, excellent optics, sharp and bright, especially at dusk and night. Rubber eye cups, and it's a very big beast, much bigger than my Audubon. Not sure where these might rank in the Swift pecking order but I would think it must be up there with the best?.

Wooo, dat some 7x50. A beauty! I think the prisms out-honk my Fujinon. You must get to the sea now. Just pack a lunch, set focus to infinity, and walk the beach all day long.

Ron

ronh said:

Wooo, dat some 7x50. A beauty! I think the prisms out-honk my Fujinon. You must get to the sea now. Just pack a lunch, set focus to infinity, and walk the beach all day long.

Ron

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Thanks Ron, it's a cracker, great at dusk.

Not to mention that patented lens cover retaining system!

Another nice find for you, Ben.

How much do they weigh ?

Bencw said:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/95019762@N07/

... Not sure where these might rank in the Swift pecking order but I would think it must be up there with the best?.

Click to expand...

In 1974, when these were made, it was THE most expensive binoculars in Swift's lineup. The MSRP was $224.95. The Audubon was the next highest at $149.95. In today's dollars your 7x50 Storm King would retail at $1,137.07.

You got an enviable deal. :t:

Ed
PS. They weigh 52.20 oz.

Samandag said:

Another nice find for you, Ben.

How much do they weigh ?

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Hi, put them on the scales and they weighed out at 1.31KG or just on 3LB, that's without the neck strap and lens caps.

elkcub said:

In 1974, when these were made, it was THE most expensive binoculars in Swift's lineup. The MSRP was $224.95. The Audubon was the next highest at $149.95. In today's dollars your 7x50 Storm King would retail at $1,137.07.

You got an enviable deal. :t:

Ed
PS. They weigh 52.20 oz.

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Thanks Ed, I never realized that were that expensive when made, pleased to know that, I picked them up for £72, thought it was quite high, but I just decided I wanted them.

elkcub said:

In 1974, when these were made, it was THE most expensive binoculars in Swift's lineup. The MSRP was $224.95. The Audubon was the next highest at $149.95. In today's dollars your 7x50 Storm King would retail at $1,137.07.

You got an enviable deal. :t:

Ed
PS. They weigh 52.20 oz.

Click to expand...

Hi Ed:

That's what killed it. It was the Tamaya BIFR, Celestron Waterproof, Asahi Pentax 7x50, Storm King, and others. I believe it was made by Katsuma Optical. The giveaway would be Katsuma's manufacturer stamp--JB 2. I referred to it as the "Binosaurus" of binoculars. However, when Swift pushed the price up to the level of the Fujinon MTR-SX, shortly before Humphrey Swift's passing, the market just couldn't bear it.

I believe it can still be had under the Tamaya name; it was in their catalog as late as last year. As far as waterproof? National Fisherman ran an article a few years ago about a commercial fisherman finding one several feet under water. He learned it had been there over a year. He fished it out, scraped the gunk and barnacles off, and is probably still using it. After a year in the sea, there wasn't a drop inside.

Cheers,

Bill

Here....come...the....Stooorm King....

Very nice. Looks like an Audubon on steroids. Kind of stingy on the ER @ 7*. Not sure why most 7x50s have between 7*-7.5* FOV, perhaps Bill or someone else can enlighten us.

I had a Celestron 7x50 Nova, which had 10* FOV. Nice "open" 70* AFOV, which is more to my liking. It was easy for me to hold since I have large hands and it weighed only 39 oz., which relatively speaking is lightweight for a bin in this class. The build quality seemed very good despite it not weighing as much as an albatross. It was in mint condition, but I still had to take a $50 loss to sell it. Not too many people appreciate old porros (except old ex-Navy men)

However, there were some "fatal flaws" that caused me to sell it: the low ER (10mm?) in combination with tight nose fit (the ocular diameter was huge), and glare problems using the bin during the day. Not sure if this was because the MC weren't up to snuff or if it lacked sufficient baffling.

Of course, 7x50s aren't meant to be used at noon, they are for low light, and for that they worked well; however, the night sky looked washed out when using the 7x Nova for stargazing. I have fairly bright suburban skies, and stargazing was my main interest in buying the bin, because I already had the 10x50 Nova (8* FOV), which I really liked for stargazing, and I thought the 7x50 would make a nice companion, which it did, next to it on the shelf.

Here are some photos of the 7x50 Nova. It was made in 1986.

"Very nice. Looks like an Audubon on steroids. Kind of stingy on the ER @ 7*. Not sure why most 7x50s have between 7*-7.5* FOV, perhaps Bill or someone else can enlighten us."

Because 7 goes into 50 7.14 times. Can it be more than that? Yes. But with a quality image? Yes. But few have the money to pay for it. So, the market is shot.

Some people get wrapped around the axle with excitement over the old Mk 41-43, because of the over-sized prisms and the 11-12 degree FOV.

From my standpoint, if anything beyond about 8 degrees gets crummy quickly, why bother? Some people are just blown away by big numbers.

As Churchill said, "Regardless of the elegance of the PLAN, sometimes it's beneficial to look at the RESULTS.

But, that's just me.

Bill

That's a nice looking Nova Brock, I like the old 7x50s, though they are a bit big for carrying around these days, but I am coming round to thinking I might prefer a modern 7x42 to my Zeiss 8x32 for general use. I am just posting some photo's of another pick up, a mint Canon Camera Co Inc 7x50. from the 1960s,

Wish I would have known you were selling it Brock. That is one binocular I would have bought in a second. Do you know how hard it is to find a wide angle 7x50 that is more than single-coated? I have been watching EBay for years in hopes of finding one at a decent price.