AZF 30x75 S (1 Viewer)

[Ignatius]

I inherited a drawtube spotter from my late father-in-law, who was an avid hunter. It is an AZF 30x75 S. This model was made between 1982 and 1987, and the serial number together with invaluable information from @John A Roberts date this one to 1984/85.
This Ausziehfernrohr uses Abbe-König prisms and has SwaroTop coatings, unlike its younger sibling, the CT, which had Schmidt-Pechan prisms while the elder siblings had Iralin coatings. The 'S' was the compact version with a five element tele objective while the normal version had a two element objective. There were also special versions called 'NZ' which had a switch by the ocular that permitted closer close focussing.
Mine is complete with both end caps and the leather straps.

Completely collapsed


Draw tube pulled out and ocular/prism assembly removed


Some views of the ocular/Abbe-König prism assembly:








The markings


There are three lenses in the front objective, plus these two here fixed in the draw tube to make the five element objective of the compact 'S' version.


I am not as good with one eye as with two, but gift horses etc.

 

[PatR]

I inherited a drawtube spotter from my late father-in-law, who was an avid hunter. It is an AZF 30x75 S. This model was made between 1982 and 1987, and the serial number together with invaluable information from @John A Roberts date this one to 1984/85.
This Ausziehfernrohr uses Abbe-König prisms and has SwaroTop coatings, unlike its younger sibling, the CT, which had Schmidt-Pechan prisms while the elder siblings had Iralin coatings. The 'S' was the compact version with a five element tele objective while the normal version had a two element objective. There were also special versions called 'NZ' which had a switch by the ocular that permitted closer close focussing.
Mine is complete with both end caps and the leather straps.

Completely collapsed
View attachment 1602150

Draw tube pulled out and ocular/prism assembly removed
View attachment 1602151

Some views of the ocular/Abbe-König prism assembly:
View attachment 1602152


View attachment 1602153


View attachment 1602154

The markings
View attachment 1602155

There are three lenses in the front objective, plus these two here fixed in the draw tube to make the five element objective of the compact 'S' version.
View attachment 1602156

I am not as good with one eye as with two, but gift horses etc.

That is a superb bit of kit.

Extremely envious and remember in the Land of the Blind, the One Eyed man is King!

 

[Ignatius]

I wasn't planning on returning home (with it). But even here it is a cool tool and I am sure to find some uses for it.

 

[forent]

Congrats! The special thing about these draw-tube scopes is that you can use them propped up somewhere or even freehand - that's what they were built for. Of course not as perfect as a world-class super HD fluoride alpha spotting scope on a fat tripod, but lightning fast and flexible. Have fun!

 

[Hermann]

I know that Swaro quite well. A friend I went out with most weeksends in the 1980s and 1990s had one. A nice scope, although my friend's scope still had a fairly strong yellowish tint. Be careful in the rain with that scope!

Hermann

 

[Ignatius]

I know that Swaro quite well. A friend I went out with most weeksends in the 1980s and 1990s had one. A nice scope, although my friend's scope still had a fairly strong yellowish tint. Be careful in the rain with that scope!

Hermann

Yeah, I know. I have been wondering whether not only actual precipitation on the barrel entering the scope when collapsing it would be a problem, but also damp air, which gets sucked in when extending it. Does anyone have information or experience with draw tubes in this respect?



In this image there is an "Air filter cleans the sucked in air and insures [sic] that the interior remains dust free". However, that will most likely not dry humid air whose humidity could then condense on the inside somewhere.

 

[Hermann]

Yeah, I know. I have been wondering whether not only actual precipitation on the barrel entering the scope when collapsing it would be a problem, but also damp air, which gets sucked in when extending it. Does anyone have information or experience with draw tubes in this respect?

My first two scopes were drawtube scopes (Nickel Supra 15-60x60, Optolyth 22x70). When I got into birding most people used drawtube scopes. The problems occured when scopes were used for long periods of time in the rain, or when soaking wet scopes were collapsed. A few people I went out with had towels in the car to dry their scopes before collapsing them ... 😁 On rainy days people protected their scopes with plastic bags with a hole cut out for the objective lens. After those years with drawtube scopes switching to a Kowa TS-1 was really nice ...

I never heard of any problems caused by damp air being sucked in.

In this image there is an "Air filter cleans the sucked in air and insures [sic] that the interior remains dust free". However, that will most likely not dry humid air whose humidity could then condense on the inside somewhere.

That filter makes a lot of sense. Otherwise you'd get a lot of dust inside the scope in some places.

Hermann