CTS 30 x 85 drawscope arrived (2 Viewers)

And being England it rained all afternoon.

However, the view up the garden this evening was...very pleasing.
Chunky, beautifully engineered as expected, and nicely tactile to use; leant against something to view our bird feeders and lets just say I wasn't disappointed - super quality image. Then tried it on a tripod, though I only take one when photographing and don't plan to change.


Got the eyepiece last week but had to wait for the body sent from Austria. Despite shopping round for pre-increase prices, it's beans on toast for me the next couple of months:t:

May I just say thank you to all who contribute information to these forums.


Regards

I envy you your new toy. I've been vaguely thinking of getting one of the Swarovski drawtubes myself for some time now. For many years I used the old 30 x 75 drawtube which gave a pretty good image--though not quite up to a modern alpha ED/APO--& was beautifully portable, but had a serious drawback in not focusing closer than about 100 feet. I imagine the new versions focus a lot closer than that?

I'd be very interested in the specifications of the 2 current drawtubes if you were willing to take the trouble to post them. Also info on prices would be much appreciated..

Anyway, good luck with your purchase.

http://www.hoferwaffen.com/images/optics/Swarowski_en.pdf
See pages 28 and 29 of the file.
Close focus is 26 feet.

I was out by the Thames estuary early this morning on Two Tree Island to put the CTS through it's paces and learn about it; naturally took along my bins (Steiner Discovery 10 x 44 ). My aim was to see avocets with chicks, and succeeded along with whimbrel, curlew, oystercatcher, shelduck, flocks of godwits, 7 little egrets, herons, cormorant, kestrels, pheasant and the usual various gulls & common terns who were also feeding their chicks. Tide was out.

The image: as expected you cannot hold it steady unsupported; you need to lean it against something, against a tree, or with your elbows on a fence. Sitting with your back leaning against a boat for example with it resting supported on your knee works. Focussing takes more turns than my bins, but I can't compare it to anything else. There is a focussing ring-grip on the eyepiece and another at the end of the smallest section of the drawtube, my hand naturally used the drawtube ring(the eyepiece and end section of the tube move together once the eyepiece is connected).
I will learn to use it both right and left handed to take advantage of available support.

Ergonomics: The 85mm objective lens makes for a chunky tube to hold onto and I find the ribbed rubber armouring gives you a confident grip & is very pleasant to hold.
The two lens covers with strap that double as a carrying case work superbly well as a system.
http://www.rmacleod.co.uk/ctc30x75.jpg
I have large hands and would say that those with small hands may find the CTC 30x75 more suitable with respect to handling (the CTS85mm is a large tube to hold). The CTC is also a lot cheaper!
The strap went over my left shoulder and the scope hangs on my right side - thinking about it now I never noticed the wieght, so that obviously worked well.


In the hide furthest west overlooking a small lake, there was an avocet pair with cute chick, being closely looked after by parent and then wandered away to wade & probe the water/mud for food. Well with the 10x I got a reasonable view, but with the 30x leant against the wooden frame of the hide I got the chick to fill the image. Also close ups of the adult head & beak and legs.
Yes it ought ideally to be on a tripod, but you can use it without. I was thinking I may get a monopod but now don't think so; already have a manfrotto 190B for photography.
Sitting with it stabilised on my knee allowed me to distinguish curlew and whimbrel mid-channel between Two Tree and Canvey Islands, I'd really have been struggling with my 10x bins. Also the distant egrets which were on the Canvey side of the river channel became readily identifiable.

As a walker who enjoys seeing birds as well as the views, it should provide a good portable solution for my needs. If you are a birder who sits and waits and watches, it's probably not what you want.
I can post some photos for scale if you like, the brochure and internet images don't really do this, also they've streamlined the rear lens cover.


Regards

CharleyBird said:

http://www.hoferwaffen.com/images/optics/Swarowski_en.pdf
See pages 28 and 29 of the file.
Close focus is 26 feet.

Click to expand...

Many thanks for the link. 26 feet--still not very good (I see the 30 x 75 is even worse at 33 ft) but a lot better than before. Hunters, unfortunately, for whom the 2 scopes were primarily designed, just aren't that interested in close focus.

I suppose with a 30x magnification it's not meant for viewing things that are relatively close.

You asked about prices, this following site will give you an idea of current UK Swaro prices - there's a link to scopes etc
http://www.uttings.com/?Categories/Optics/Binoculars/Swarovski/
I see the 80mm High definition scopes are 1945. Add 335 for the 30x eyepiece. Eek! Nearly 2300, twice what I paid.
But for the extra cash you do get a better close focus of 16 feet||

Good show Charlie!

Congrats on the addition of your new scope! The CTS is a great scope, I used one for many years and loved it, I know you will too! I now use the new CTC-75 with the fixed W30x. I went to it because to me it was a little more portable and I never really used much over 30x anyway. So to have the fixed 30 has been a combo that I just love and still continue to use over all the new ED/HD scopes. FYI - I have used mine in ever kind of weather and have never had any issues. Rain, sleet, snow, dust, and boiling heat... It just reliably keeps on giving ultra sharp and detailed images and continues to look new to boot!

Thanks, and it's good to hear how durable they can be.

I didn't say before, but was offered the TLS800 SLR camera adaptor for 200; how could I resist? Should be fun messing about with what is effectively a 1200mm lens.

Thought I'd post a couple of photos in the gallery so interested parties could see results of the handheld '1200mm lens' - can't resize them at the moment, so uploaded two here (crosses fingers this works):
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/ind...ID=130588962&albumID=2608761&imageID=42754964
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/ind...ID=130588962&albumID=2608761&imageID=42754979

Hi Charley, These two photos worked ok for me. Excellent photos for handheld.
Regards,Steve

Thanks, they're adequate, I'm not after pin sharp magazine-publishing quality. I was amazed that it's possible, albeit awkward to use the telescope this way.
My D70s has to be on all manual settings, & for each subject I took four or five shots (you can prepare the exposure settings easily, but focussing perfectly with middle aged eyes is hit and miss).
Haven't used the scope as a camera much at all; really ought to set it up on the tripod and snap the birds on my garden feeders.

Was messing about with the scope indoors tonight and reckoned it could focus on things closer than 26 feet so measured the closest focus - it's actually about 21feet 4inches.

Here's the scope in use at the weekend, helping to identify a female wigeon (probably just flown in from the north) some distance away on the Thames estuary.

http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/43/l_69782cc3e08a49dcb0df27caae34c1fe.jpg

I've found once focussed, if you get that hand firmly against your brow and relax the other arm with shoulders down, this stabilises the scope as best as possible.
That's a friend and my younger daughter using 10x44 Steiner Discoverys(XPs), and he has his camouflaged 10x Monarchs (plus copious Nikon gear in a small rucksack). Elder daughter likes to photograph everything, with some humour.

Thought I’d resurrect this thread a last time to give further impressions of my swarovski drawscope after more than half a year of use, to show the drawscope with SLR camera adaptor set up & photo results, and link a thread with alternative collapsible drawscopes.

It’s easy to carry, I’m steady enough to hold it unsupported, but prefer to find something to lean on. Focussing is comparatively slow & clumsy compared to modern style scopes, and involves turning the whole of the smallest barrel three full 360 degrees turns to get from infinity to closest focus. It’s not as good optically as modern scopes with their super coatings (I’m thinking the largest Swaro or Nikon here I’ve tried that are twice the price, waterproofed etc), but the 85mm objective is a good size and images are bright and clear enough for me and it fits my hands like a glove:
http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/123/l_af20d99a8b634c908fef1c2f0148c55c.jpg
I love it, it goes all over with me, slung across one shoulder, looking like a flask of tea.


Remove the 30x eyepiece and the TLS800 SLR adaptor simply turn/clicks on in its place. Your own SLR camera with adaptor ring turn/clicks on the other end and hey presto, with a 2/3rds sensor you have 1200mm lens:
http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/145/l_f735a2acb10a4f859c76831e09e5bcc7.jpg
which you have to use with the drawscope extended of course:
http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/132/l_5efe7d43597542f3aeff73aae0a940bb.jpg


This can be handheld without support and used completely manually (like a 1970’s action shot would be taken, manual focus, manually set aperture and shutter speed) to get shots of static subjects(note that the originals before mounting onto myspace are much clearer, but this will give you an idea):
http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/142/l_5e6c8fd3370d465bafa4b03549114824.jpg
http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/112/l_24877ac9b4d84228b08a028db3c61ce0.jpg
and even slower moving subjects:
http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/136/l_40b98d19bdc64fd1a3f9913efce8f0b6.jpg
as well as giving some rather nice compression to perspective:
http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/143/l_ef0de8439354477d95b6a051328c92aa.jpg

No plans to get a monopod.


As far as I know it’s the only drawscope that has various eyepieces and an SLR adaptor. Other ones are fixed, which brings greater ease of use; here’s the only review I can find:
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...ue/Re_Swarovski_Collapsable_Spott#Post3659081


Regards

Andy