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Swift Osprey specifications (1 Viewer)

R

Robert Ellis

Larus marinus
I am looking at a pair of these 7.5x42 Ospreys on eBay. Does anyone recollect some of the more major specs for instance eye-relief, close focus, and weight? I am drawn to them as a dual-purpose binocular, pelagic birding and astronomy, with some other birding tossed in just because they look smashing.
 
I owned a pair of these as my primary binoculars for several years. The ergonomics are very good. Eye relief is pretty good but the apparent field of view is quite narrow so it's a bit like looking down a tunnel. Having said that it's a very comfortable binocular to use. Not as bright or contrasty as modern binos because they aren't multi-coated. Instead they have the 'Swift amber coating'. The prisms are Bk7 glass not BaK4. I think the actual field of view was 367ft at 1000yds. A nice instrument but won't stand direct comparison with modern mid-range binoculars.
 
Swift specs say weight 29.5 oz., eye relief 19mm, close focus 16 ft., field width agrees with solenbirder, but Swift claims the prism material (at least in the mark II version) is "the new BPG-2....which gives this binocular the eyes of a hawk." I expect solenbirder's description is closer to the truth.
 
Last edited:
henry link said:
Swift specs say weight 29.5 oz., eye relief 19mm, close focus 16 ft., field width agrees with solenbirder, but Swift claims the prism material (at least in the mark II version) is "the new BPG-2....which gives this binocular the eyes of a hawk." I expect solenbirder's description is closer to the truth.
Click to expand...

Surprising that the prism glass would be BK7. I have a Swift Mark II 7 x 35 Neptune from the mid=60's, a near perfect clone of the Bausch & Lomb Zephyr of the same era, which plainly employs BAK4 glass, and I understand that the Swift Audubons from the very beginning have also used BAK4 prisms. I had assumed that it was only the Swift Aerolites which cheaped out, as their prices so reflected.
 
chartwell99 said:
Surprising that the prism glass would be BK7. I have a Swift Mark II 7 x 35 Neptune from the mid=60's, a near perfect clone of the Bausch & Lomb Zephyr of the same era, which plainly employs BAK4 glass, and I understand that the Swift Audubons from the very beginning have also used BAK4 prisms. I had assumed that it was only the Swift Aerolites which cheaped out, as their prices so reflected.
Click to expand...

It's definitely not BAK4 (at least not in the pair I owned) since the exit pupils clearly had the typical square shading at the edges from lower grade glass. I've got an old Swift 7x50 Neptune MkI and that's got Bk7 too.
 
Thanks to those of you who raised questions about the Osprey Mark II several years ago: your comments may have contributed to the affordability of the ANIB pair I just picked up on the Famous Bidding Site.

For the record, the exit pupils are shaped like the very beginning of a lunar eclipse, with the shallowest of bites on each edge nearest the hinge. Serial number is 861966 and hallmark is B56.

I resurrect this thread because for twenty years I owned a pair of Audubons (purchased in 1978) that were fussy, shallow primadonnas, with the result that they were always back-ups and never my primary binocular. The Ospreys are more forgiving and thus significantly more comfortable.
 
I don't suppose my skills are any better than anybody else's, but the
osprey's FOV just doesn't seem to be an issue for picking up birds in flight.

You have probably seen at least one of those silly advertisements where the birder says "Through brand x binoculars I saw the farlutian godwit." Well, the Osprey lived up to its raptor moniker since it delivered a sharpie, red-tail, red-shoulder, kestrel, and bald eagle in a couple of hours--not bad for a winter morning.

You will be happy to know that my scope this morning was an 841--another vastly underappreciated optic from Swift.
 
Another four years on!

For interest (Just found):

https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/nab/v044n05/front.pdf

American Birds

Winter 1990

Volume 44, Number 5 1095

[Advertisement]

Almost as good as a bird in hand.

Swift's Audubon and Osprey binoculars incorporate lenses
and prisms of the finest center-pot Barium Crown glass,
as well as a unique coating on all lenses, providing
squintfree, sun-safe viewing. We think they're the most
outstanding birdwatching glasses made.

S.W.I.F.T

754 OSPREY armored
7.5x42 C.F. - (367ft)
29.5 oz - R.L.E. 51.7

804R AUDUBON
wide angle
8.5x44 C.F. - (430ft)
29.5 oz - R.L.E. 44.2

Swift Instruments Inc.
952 Dorchester Ave.
Boston MA 02125
P.O. Box 562
San Jose CA 95106

In Canada: Cosman & Assoc.
Islington, Ontario M9C 1AS
 
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