• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Swift Storm King Mark ll 7 x 35 Info Please (1 Viewer)

Eyeguy2

Member
Hello,
I have been going through some old Optics I have from my dad. I am currently home in bed, staring out the window, watching the local birds. I have a pair of Zeiss he gave me in 1982 and I love them, I used them at raceways. He had a pair of these Swift 7 x 35, and they are perfect for the area I'm looking at. My question is, where can I find the info on these. I had the crazy idea of selling them to get something new, but these are pretty nice for what I'm doing. So I cancelled the ad and I'm gonna keep these. I have heard the Mark ll were only made in the larger size, and that seems to be all I'm finding. I've read up on the lenses as the markings tell me that, so here is what the entire back side says;
Swift on left side, under that Immersion tested, under that Fog Proof, under that Fully coated. Now right side Storm King in blue, under that Mark ll in blue, 7 x,35
393ft. at 1000yds.
Model NO 718
No 1-730484
Center Markings JB2

Any info would be greatly appreciated, thanks for looking Cheers B :)
 
Hi there and welcome,
Like you, I can't find much on that model, I have only seen the model 717, maybe it's rare. Simon Spiers is pretty knowledgeable about Swifts, maybe he will see this and have some better info for you. Out of interest which model Zeiss do you use?

Ben
 
Eyeguy2,

Based on the serial number, your Model 718 was fabricated in 1973. JB 2 indicates it was made by Katsuma Kogaku Kikai Co.Ltd.

I've coped a few pages from Catalog Vol. 48, 1974, plus the price guide from 1975 for Mk II binoculars. This should give you a pretty good idea of where your specimen stood in the pecking order, although I could find no picture of Model 718.

It should be noted that the big brother, Model 717, dates back at least to 1968, but Model 718 does not. Well, at least yours doesn't. There was a Model 718 in those days called a "Vulcan," but it wasn't waterproof and had center focusing. From this it might be inferred that your binoculars are fairly rare, and you were wise not to sell it, particularly if it works well.

Happy New Year,
Ed
 

Attachments

  • Model 718 Storm King 1974 + prices.pdf
    886.5 KB · Views: 412
I would second Ed's suggestion and not sell. I have a few older Swifts and have had an active search for Swift binoculars for several years and in that time I have never come across a Storm King in 7x35. They appear occasionally in their 7x, 50 guise.

Give a look to the exit pupils as you hold them away from your eyes. Are they round, or do they appear to have squared edged. That will tell the prism glass type, Bak-4 round, Bk-7 squared.

Welcome to BF too.
 
Last edited:
I think you will also find they are the same as the Swift Triton 7x35 1968 j-b26 j-e43 Model 748.
I have a Storm king 2 in my collection and sure an original model like yours somewhere.
 
Simon, I doubt that. In 1968 the Model 748 Triton was a low-cost 7x35 American pattern offering with center focus and not waterproofed. By contrast, the 7x50 Model 717 Storm King, which was introduced in that year, was designed to meet "...world Navy specifications." By 1973-4 the 7x35 Model 718 Storm King had been introduced, which had " ...all the characteristics of the 717 [i .e.] All weather, waterproof, fog proof." Clearly, the Triton was quite different.

Also note that Models 717 and 718 were much more expensive than even the Audubon in those days, no doubt by virtue of waterproofing and possibly having to meet military specs. So, in the scheme of things I would say the 718 really is an uncommon, if not rare, premium collector model.

Ed
 

Attachments

  • Triton 1969 compressed.pdf
    1.2 MB · Views: 1,079
Last edited:
Im confused now.
Is the 704 and 748 the same binocular but one the sport king WF?
That would explain the confusion i'm having.
 
You're very welcome, Eyeguy2. I learned something interesting from the exercise too. If you could post pictures of your specimen it would be appreciated, particularly since that model is not shown in the catalogs.

Simon,

Not quite sure what you're saying. In the 1968 price sheet shown in post #6, Models 704 and 748 are both listed as "Swift American Pattern," but they are clearly different designs. See the pic. of 704 Sport King below. Although they are all 7x35 configurations (very popular in those days), they are different from each other and from the later 1973 718 Storm King, which was IF and waterproof.

To tell you the truth, there may be some Swift binoculars with different names and model numbers that are actually the same, but I've just never come across any. I have seen the same model number used in different years for different products, however; for example, the 718 Vulcan shown in 1969 is quite different from the OP's 718 made in 1973.

Hope this helps.

Ed

PS. Another possible source of confusion is that Swift-Pyser, the European distributor, had great latitude to use their own names and markings, and sometimes a very different model selection for a particular year.
 

Attachments

  • Model 704 Sport King 1969.pdf
    1.1 MB · Views: 175
Last edited:
Hi, here is a pic of the Storm King Mark ll 7 x 35. Thanks for all the info, I appreciate you kindness. Cheers B :)
 

Attachments

  • swift pic 2 compressed.jpg
    swift pic 2 compressed.jpg
    15.3 KB · Views: 252
You're very welcome, Eyeguy2. I learned something interesting from the exercise too. If you could post pictures of your specimen it would be appreciated, particularly since that model is not shown in the catalogs.

Simon,

Not quite sure what you're saying. In the 1968 price sheet shown in post #6, Models 704 and 748 are both listed as "Swift American Pattern," but they are clearly different designs. See the pic. of 704 Sport King below. Although they are all 7x35 configurations (very popular in those days), they are different from each other and from the later 1973 718 Storm King, which was IF and waterproof.

To tell you the truth, there may be some Swift binoculars with different names and model numbers that are actually the same, but I've just never come across any. I have seen the same model number used in different years for different products, however; for example, the 718 Vulcan shown in 1969 is quite different from the OP's 718 made in 1973.

Hope this helps.

Ed

PS. Another possible source of confusion is that Swift-Pyser, the European distributor, had great latitude to use their own names and markings, and sometimes a very different model selection for a particular year.
Your absolutely correct.
I was confused by the 7x35 and was thinking of the sport king model.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 10 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top