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Swift Albany Mk11 9x40 (1 Viewer)

Bencw

Well-known member
Picked up another swift that I have not seen before, this Albany MK11. I don't know much about it? But it is a very nice binocular, bright and sharp, 445ft@1000yds, and same build quality as the Audubon and Saratoga MK11.
Does not mention coatings, I don't know when it was made, but would guess 80s, so I think it would be coated lenses, and sadly, the only fault, it has some light marks on the objectives typical of cleaning marks on a coated lens. Very large oculars, which with my narrow IPD make it just a tiny bit uncomfortable.
 

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I don't have any catalog information on this model, but I would agree that it was made in the 1980s, and probably by Hiyoshi. A 9x with a 445 ft. field has a superwide apparent field(~ 76.4˚), which would account for the large eye lenses. As a Mk-II it might have the same lens coatings as the Audubon, which were "hard amber plus multi-coatings" in those days. However, Pyser also categorized their lineup using colors (yours being blue-green), and that complicates matters.

Ed
 
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Thanks ED, the only scrap of info I found suggested it "might" have been made just for the European market.
 
Thanks ED, the only scrap of info I found suggested it "might" have been made just for the European market.

That's very possible, even likely. I haven't seen the 9x configuration in Swift Instruments catalogs.

Thanks,
Ed

PS. I just found a reference to the blue ribbon 9x40 Albany in the database Renze de Vries has been maintaining. Two specimens were reported with s/n 805900 and 815896. So, they were made in 1980 and 1981, and the model may have been dropped from the lineup before 1984. What is your s/n, please?
 
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That's very possible, even likely. I haven't seen the 9x configuration in Swift Instruments catalogs.

Thanks,
Ed

PS. I just found a reference to the blue ribbon 9x40 Albany in the database Renze de Vries has been maintaining. Two specimens were reported with s/n 805900 and 815896. So, they were made in 1980 and 1981, and the model may have been dropped from the lineup before 1984. What is your s/n, please?


Thanks Ed, mine is SN 805743.

Ben
 
Thanks ED, the only scrap of info I found suggested it "might" have been made just for the European market.

I think the comma before the "40" is a giveaway for that.

The ocular, EP cups, diopter rings, mounting socket, and bridges seem to indicate it is the smaller brother of the Commodore. If that's so, it may have a field flattening lens GLUED onto the prism cluster.

The Commodore was sold in Canada--ehh--after it was discontinued in the States. But, although it carried the Swift name, Humphrey Swift said he couldn't get one for me.

Bill
 
Thanks Bill, now the swift commodore is a rare bird I think, I have never seen one for sale, only ever seen a photo of the MK11 7X50, it looks a nice instrument, reminds me of the Swift Skipper to look at, but the Skipper is often seen for sale.
 
This one is up for sale at a very reasonable price. :king:

Collimation is a bit off, but that shouldn't be a problem for Bill, anyway. S/N = 781190. FOV = 525 ft.

Ed
 

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This one is up for sale at a very reasonable price. :king:

Collimation is a bit off, but that shouldn't be a problem for Bill, anyway. S/N = 781190. FOV = 525 ft.

Ed

That's true. I would just perform a CA, call it good, and return to my Nikon!

The reason I wanted one was to give to Dick Buchroeder. But, my days of giving away binoculars has passed.

'Haven't seen you in a while. How've ya been?

Bill
 
Bill,

Dick Buchroeder the Mythic Beast. Of course ya'll would be buddies. My impression is that in the immediately pre-web and dawn-of-web era when popular optical knowledge was passed mostly by letter or a visit to the home, he was the undisputed maven of optics, home made and store bought.

Being in full tilt "early baby boomer" mode now, I must ask, do you know if ATM Journal is stashed in a library someplace? I've never seen one.

Ron
 
Bill,

Dick Buchroeder the Mythic Beast. Of course ya'll would be buddies. My impression is that in the immediately pre-web and dawn-of-web era when popular optical knowledge was passed mostly by letter or a visit to the home, he was the undisputed maven of optics, home made and store bought.

Being in full tilt "early baby boomer" mode now, I must ask, do you know if ATM Journal is stashed in a library someplace? I've never seen one.

Ron

Hi Ron:

Actually, Dick was a TM wannabee for about a year. Unlike the rest of us, he had sense enough to get it out of his system, early on. Having so many connections in optics, he would just THUNK something up, and someone else would make it for him. After all my time in optics, he helped give me my first contribution to the craft.

I learned of Zemax before it was even 1.0, and caught Ken Moore—IN ROUTE—from UA’s OSC to his FIRST real job … at Livermore Labs! [Poor baby; ‘must be tough all over.] Being a big mouth promoter of optics, I shared with Dick, John Gregory, Diane Lucas (whose demise has been greatly exaggerated), and a few others with whom I’m not qualified to shake hands.

I introduced it to Dick in person. Flying to Tucson, which, in the summer, is just a few feet north of … hell! While there, I asked him why anyone would WANT to live in Tucson, with all thus rattlers, scorpions, and tarantulas. Without missing a beat, he turned to me and said, “Why would anyone want to live in Seattle, with all those … TREES? Although I’ve never seen anyone sent to the hospital because of a tree bite, I could see our logic differed.

Three days in Tucson was a real shock. I lived in Pecos, Texas for 6 years, but Tucson is on another plane for heat!

SO, you’re the deadbeat who caused me to go broke!? Just getting started in the game, I didn’t know I was supposed to send the Library of Congress one of EACH issue. Thus, they only have the first. You can get The Best of Amateur Telescope Making Journal (2 large volumes) at several optics shops or directly from Willmann-Bell. Or, ask for them at your local library.

If I could afford to be magnanimous, as in the old days, I would send you copies. However, I only have one of each, myself. And, since Captain’s bought the magazine from me, they receive all the royalties and have the only local supply of copies.

Have a great day.

Bill

PS Ken Moore, that poor little Opto-geek from Tucson, now lives just down the road in Bellevue. He sold Zemax a few years ago. It is now Radiant-Zemax. Ken is now the Chief Technology Officer. But, really, I think he just drops by once a week to count his money! There are a couple of routines I inspired, and I really miss having the time to use it. I have two hard keys in the drawer, but haven’t turned it on since about 2001. And, being an old guy, will probably never use it again.
 
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