Swarovski ATX 25-60 x 65mm; some new owner questions (1 Viewer)

Allen said:

Hi, I've just PX'd a load of unused gear and treated myself to Swarovski ATX 65mm + zoom. Appreciating that it is just out of box but has had 24 hours use; how stiff should the focus wheel be? It seems to be smooth enough at certain focus ranges to turn the focus wheel with just fingers but at other distances it is fairly stiff, sticks and jumps (minutely but can be felt) between focal points if I just use fingers to turn the focus and really needs full hold of the wheel to do it more smoothly.
Also, knowing the zoom is designed to be stiffer to differentiate without looking, again how stiff should it be as that really does take some effort to turn and certainly it's resistance means its not easy to zoom in on things quickly.

Thanks for any users insight.

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Allen said:

Thanks Pete. That's comforting to know on the zoom. The dealer has another 65mm objective module on its way to swap with and see if focus ring is smoother through its range on the next one.

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Allen said:

Update. Exchanged the objective module and much better. Even the dealer easily found the sticky point on the original one without me telling him where it was.
So back to the zoom now. I had a chance to test this out on the BBAlbatross at Bempton yesterday. Unlike the focus ring which I can turn with just fingers across the top, the zoom can only be done using a finger/thumb grip either side and even then gives much resistance. I can understand that this design would need resistance to avoid the zoom getting accidentally turned too easily but wanted to confirm others experience that it needs such a grip. Thanks in advance.

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