Swift Holiday Mark II? (3 Viewers)

elkcub said:

That's interesting. Which manufacturers other than Hiyoshi Kogaku encoded dates in their serial numbers?

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Hi Ed,

For instance,

Futaba (JL-B26)
Katsuma (JL-B2)
Koikisha (JL-B21)
Kyoshi (JL-B257)
Miyako Seiki (JL-B32)
Ryuko Seisakujo
Seiwa (JL-B191)
Subaru (JL-B142)
Tamron (JL-B45)
Toho (JL-B251)

Yeah, like those guys.

Renze, you're going to be speaking fluent Japanese soon.

Ed

PS. Miyako Seiki (JL-B32) is not one
PPS. Bayonet eyecups are consistent with my 1959 Type-0. Now I'm almost certain they were also used on Type 1a after the change in company name, and probably on Type 1b. As of Type 1c we find a twist-up eyecup that I incorrectly included in the Type 1a writeup on pg. 8. Wish we had some pictures of these to include in a revised paper.

Well, I take it back. I don't need to replace the doorstop after all.

Sometime in the 1970s or early 80s, Hiyoshi Kogaku produced binoculars that were sold under the Linet brand label. This mint 8x40 specimen, which I picked up for $10 at a local Thrift Shop, has a Type-2 body with metal eyecups, BaK4 prisms, and a 12º field. This produces a whopping apparent field of 96º. It also came with eyepiece covers equipped with yellow filters, and a reasonably good case. There is appreciable distortion at the outer edges of the field, which is to be expected since the aberration grows with the cube of field angle, but peripheral cues are quite spectacular if one attends more or less to the center field.

Note that although marked JLB-56 on the front hinge, there is no serial number or date on this 36 oz joy baby.

After using it in the field a few times I have to say that the expression "Excellent Precision Optics" on the left cover plate is not an exaggeration. The central image is absolutely beautiful, and although color fringing is present it seems very well controlled within ±40º apparent field and only shows strongly at the extremes. Curiously, I am able to look to the edges without much kidney beaning, but overall images are perceptually much smaller than a typical 8x. I attribute this to the large retinal disparity and ultra-wide field. Spatial depth is quite spectacular.

I can't help but wonder whether the single "Violet" coatings, probably centered at the photopic green sensitivity peak, doesn't account in part for the apparent lack of color fringing. Again, I'm lead to speculate that later improvements in multicoatings increased fringe perception and eventually forced the industry to adopt HD glass into their designs.

Sorry for musing at the end. I recommend collecting Linets such as these.

Ed

I love listening to you guys.

Ed,

Ah, there's the Linet in full color.
I'm surprised by the lettering: at least four fonts being used. A bit over the top I'd say for the birding community, but it could be of some appeal to a larger market segment.
Question: any idea what Linet might refer to?

Renze

Ed,

Thank you for the pics and information. I must agree with Mr. Madison. I thoroughly enjoy reading what you and Renze post on these models. My selection is growing but I don't any of the Linet brand at this point. Will keep an eye out for them.

FrankD said:

Ed,

Thank you for the pics and information. I must agree with Mr. Madison. I thoroughly enjoy reading what you and Renze post on these models. My selection is growing but I don't any of the Linet brand at this point. Will keep an eye out for them.

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Thank you Frank. It feels good that collecting data, knowledge and experience is appreciated. Also, my impression is that on this forum the interest in vintage designs has grown over the last couple of years. Next to information about the latest developments it's good to exchange ideas about things from the past. I don't think that those older designs in general, i.e. counting all aspects, can be as good as the best binoculars on the market today, but there's great reward in finding historical pieces that are so terribly good on specific aspects that you can't help but love them for it.

Renze

I finally got around to taking a pic of the Swift Holiday Mark 2 that I picked up a couple of weeks ago.....

Nice snag Frank.
Allow me, if you will, to piggyback on your thread as I too am in a holidaze. When did they change the Holiday to a model 704 & why is my Mark II inside a white triangle above the 600' @ 1000?

Swift-Amber Coated Optics-U.V. Coating on the endcap seems to holler 70's-ish, but I haven't a clue on the actual date of manufacturer.

Says feather weight fully coated on the left prism cover, yet I'm somewhat sure w/tripod adapter screwed under the right barrel that the claim is suspect.

Any information would be welcomed.

Nix
you ought to post the pics from the ebay auction which would be helpful to ID them

Here you go.

I wasn't able to be online when it ended. Nix was lucky enough to be able to grab it. I am envious.

Frank, you're too kind, yet I do look forward to examining the Holiday bins & the spacious view.

I'm going to stack them up against the Japanese Legacy 11* that came in today bearing in mind that the B&L set me back just a tad under half as much. I definitely prefer them over the Chinese version.

FrankD said:

Here you go.

I wasn't able to be online when it ended. Nix was lucky enough to be able to grab it. I am envious.

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Frank:

Looks like a nice one. You do know when putting in auction bids, if you'd
just put in a high bid like $100. or so, it will only go up to what the other
bidder goes to.

Now, I suppose you already know that, but you would surely get many on
your wanted list. o

Jerry

That's what's tough about bidding against Frank. Always having to throw a fin on top of the Franklin.

It's Frank & Steve's diabolical forked strategy to splinter my resources, break me and divvy up the vintage plunder amongst themselves.

Ahr, the scurvy dawgs!

ETA: Tough crowd as laughs are hard to come by.

NDhunter said:

Frank:

Looks like a nice one. You do know when putting in auction bids, if you'd
just put in a high bid like $100. or so, it will only go up to what the other
bidder goes to.

Now, I suppose you already know that, but you would surely get many on
your wanted list. o

Jerry

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Jerry,

Yes, I am aware of it. What I have come to learn is that there are quite a few "strategies" when it comes to bidding on the bay. Some folks will do as you advised and place their maximum bid in immediately. The problem with that strategy is that somebody else may want the bins as well. Here is a scenario:

Minimum sale price: $9.99

Bidder one: Puts in his max bid of $100

Bidder two: Sees the opening bid for $9.99 and bids $20 first but is immediately outbid by the original bidder. He then bids again at $30 and is immediately outbid. He then continues to bid in $10 increments until he realizes that the bins aren't that great of a value anymore.

Current auction value is now $51.

Bidder three: Sees the $51 and decides to bid $61 (since most bidders just bid in $5 and $10 increments). He is immediately outbid and now the bins are up to $62. He may get a little gutsy and then bid again at $71 and is immediately outbid.

Current auction value is now $72.

Bidder two: Comes back a few days later and decides to give it one final shot in the hopes that Bidder One's highest bid is $80 so he bids $85 and is immediately outbid.

Current auction value is now $86.

It sits that way for several hours or days and nobody else bids.

Now here is where it gets interesting. We came down to the last few hours of the auction. Either the second bidder or third bidder may make another offer but most likely not.

Now we are down to the last few minutes or few seconds of the auction. If either of the second two bidders really wants the bin then they will throw their last ditch effort into it at this point and make a max bid. By now they have figured out that the original bidder either bid some excessive amount or bid right at $100 so expect a bid or two to be thrown in within that last minute, or few seconds, of $101 or $102.50 or something similar.

So, Bidder 1 may or may not get the bins. It all comes down to that last few seconds of the auction. There may even be someone who has not even bid yet but who has watch-listed the bins and uses either a Sniping program or plans on being online to place a bid at the last possible moment.

My strategy is a bit simpler as I fall into the class of what I just mentioned....assuming I really want the bins. I simply watch-list them and then make sure I am available to bid at the exact moment that I want to. If I am not able to be online when the auction ends then I really didn't want the bins in the first place. So, either I get the bins or the winning bidder has to pay close to the full amount of their high bid.

Yes, I do bid on items right from the get go but then I am typically not overly interested in them or am only interested in them if they sell low. I will put a maximum bid in at that point but it is often not that much more than the seller's minimum price. By ignoring the auction I don't inflate the price and then can check back later to see if anyone else has inflated the price. More often than not that gives me the opportunity to come in and pay less than that $100 maximum bid.

Truth be told it is actually fun to bid on there and can be quite addicting in its own right. For now most of my Vintage porro purchases are done unless I find something really intriguing. For now I am just selling.

Frank:

Good to hear about your strategy. I was just giving you a little tease with my comment.
I agree with your thoughts, as I have been through the same.

Some call it sniping with a last second bid, timed just right.

Jerry

Sorry Jerry. I missed the tone of your jest initially.

All sniping does, for the most part, is prevent folks from upping their original bid in the closing moments. Value is influenced by personal perception. Something worth $50 might be worth 150 to someone, so they put that as a maximum figuring they'll get the deal probably @ much less.

All good & fine, but someone else that's playing fast and loose might push that maximum to the limit. Could even bump into a shill trying to run the price above & beyond the reasonable value. Sometimes you have to pay for insurance & it's a bad bet @ the blackjack table for good reason.

I bid on a 804ED & apparently ran the price up to within 10 bits of the winners maximum. He won, but he paid what I considered just over the value for me. If I allowed myself more time I might have bid more & maybe him as well. It's not life or death, there'll be others come down the pike & you have to set limits; drawing the line somewhere.

On the other hand I've seen a seller(s) lose fifty bucks because my max snipe bid wasn't quite enough to go to the next minimum bid amount. Other buyer snags a good deal & I still have the same funds to use.

Folks using 2.50 to a fin minimum increases sometimes shoot themselves in the foot.

Anyway, it's all supposed to be for fun sez the guy that just left one negative & two neutral feedbacks. Just mullah & glass.

I almost never bid early, except to research Frank's scenario. I always do it fairly early and if I get "wham" outbid, then I am fairly certain there is at least one person really interested. If there are several bids by the end of auction, then things are likely to go nuts in the final seconds, and whoever sent in the highest max bid gets the prize. I ALWAYS decide on what my max on that particular item is and don't top it. I almost always make my final bid, at my max, at the last possible second. Multiple bidders will be driving the price up and waiting tells me (sometimes) where my max is. Mostly it seems if I'm interested, I'm not the only one, so the seller makes out OK. I also figure it's up to me to set my max limit, and I figure it's up to the seller to set his/her acceptable minimum too.

Now I've got to sell a half dozen and build up some bino-bucks .

On New Zealands main auction site if you bid in the last few seconds the auction auto extends for another two minutes, so cutting out last gasp sniping, which I would say is a fair and better system all round.