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Just arrived, Swift Audubon 804 HR5 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Mikbul
- Start date
brocknroller
porromaniac
Nice. I had two 804 MC Audubons. One had an exceptionally wide sweet spot (~70-75%), the other more typical ~ 60%. Not that the edges were fuzzy in either one, the fall off (field curvature) was gradual and could be refocused at the edges. I regret selling the sample with the wide sweet spot because it one of my two favorites for stargazing. Stars were pinpoint, very low astigmatism. My other favorite was the Nikon 12x50 SE.
I bought an 804 FMC Audubon last year from a major porro dealer on eBay, lozack-g, and it had no case, soft or hard (I'll post of photo of the hard case that came with my earlier 804, which was in mint condition, wish I had kept it).
Whoever packed the Audubon did such a poor job (just the binoculars and some of those large bubble packets in the box), that the binoculars were out of collimation when they arrived. The guy is such a poor communicator, he answers not in sentences but in a few words that weren't clear. I thought he was going to collimate it, so I sent it back, and he just gave me a refund. I said I was going to contact eBay, and he made some snide remark to go ahead since he was within his rights a seller. He's had other really nice porros for sale, but he lost me as a customer. Amazingly, he has a 98%+ rating. The few bad ratings he got sound like my experience.
I found another 804 Audubon a couple months ago. It's in near mint condition and in proper collimation (he did a good job packing), but the owner did not have the rain guard, objective caps or a case. He did include the original blue Swift strap, but I had to use an old Nikon one-piece rain guard for the Audubon. I'd like to buy a case for it and objective caps. Aftermarket objective caps probably won't fit due to the steep slope of the barrels.
I'm happy to finally have a good sample. Very sharp optics. I'd wager if you could take these binoculars and put the latest low intensity, high transmission, flat light curve AR coatings on the 804, it could go head to head with $2k-$3k alphas. It's too bad that good quality porros have gone the way of the dinosaur, because they provided a much better bang for your buck than alpha roofs.
The 804s are more comfortable and steady in my hands than most roofs, and although it has fixed rubber eyecups, they fit in my eye sockets unlike the 820 Aububon's, which one reviewer said were "not made for human faces." I agree, at least for my human face. Buyers with flat facial features might not have a problem with the 820's very wide, hard plastic eyecups.
I have a 7x35 Aculon, which has sharp optics with an offset sweet spot, I think due to the aspheric optics. It also has huge hard plastic eyecups. I can't see the full 9.3* FOV unless the eyecups are all the way down. Fortunately, the EPs do not suffer from black outs, so I can use them that way, but they would be more comfortable with old rubber eyecups. I'm not sure why porros have larger diameter eyepieces or at least EP housings than roofs with the same magnification, objective size and FOV, but that seems to be the case.
I bought an 804 FMC Audubon last year from a major porro dealer on eBay, lozack-g, and it had no case, soft or hard (I'll post of photo of the hard case that came with my earlier 804, which was in mint condition, wish I had kept it).
Whoever packed the Audubon did such a poor job (just the binoculars and some of those large bubble packets in the box), that the binoculars were out of collimation when they arrived. The guy is such a poor communicator, he answers not in sentences but in a few words that weren't clear. I thought he was going to collimate it, so I sent it back, and he just gave me a refund. I said I was going to contact eBay, and he made some snide remark to go ahead since he was within his rights a seller. He's had other really nice porros for sale, but he lost me as a customer. Amazingly, he has a 98%+ rating. The few bad ratings he got sound like my experience.
I found another 804 Audubon a couple months ago. It's in near mint condition and in proper collimation (he did a good job packing), but the owner did not have the rain guard, objective caps or a case. He did include the original blue Swift strap, but I had to use an old Nikon one-piece rain guard for the Audubon. I'd like to buy a case for it and objective caps. Aftermarket objective caps probably won't fit due to the steep slope of the barrels.
I'm happy to finally have a good sample. Very sharp optics. I'd wager if you could take these binoculars and put the latest low intensity, high transmission, flat light curve AR coatings on the 804, it could go head to head with $2k-$3k alphas. It's too bad that good quality porros have gone the way of the dinosaur, because they provided a much better bang for your buck than alpha roofs.
The 804s are more comfortable and steady in my hands than most roofs, and although it has fixed rubber eyecups, they fit in my eye sockets unlike the 820 Aububon's, which one reviewer said were "not made for human faces." I agree, at least for my human face. Buyers with flat facial features might not have a problem with the 820's very wide, hard plastic eyecups.
I have a 7x35 Aculon, which has sharp optics with an offset sweet spot, I think due to the aspheric optics. It also has huge hard plastic eyecups. I can't see the full 9.3* FOV unless the eyecups are all the way down. Fortunately, the EPs do not suffer from black outs, so I can use them that way, but they would be more comfortable with old rubber eyecups. I'm not sure why porros have larger diameter eyepieces or at least EP housings than roofs with the same magnification, objective size and FOV, but that seems to be the case.
elkcub
Silicon Valley, California
Brock,
Let me know by PM if you'd like me to send you either one of these covers. The one marked "Swift Audubon" fits nicely over unfolded eyecups. The generic one will fit over folded eyecups too. No charge, ... but I'd need your address.
Ed
Oh, and for the same price I'll throw in a set of generic 58mm objective covers that fit.
Let me know by PM if you'd like me to send you either one of these covers. The one marked "Swift Audubon" fits nicely over unfolded eyecups. The generic one will fit over folded eyecups too. No charge, ... but I'd need your address.
Ed
Oh, and for the same price I'll throw in a set of generic 58mm objective covers that fit.
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Mikbul
Mikbul
No luck on the Swift neck strap so I used a nice heavy duty JR Propo neck strap. I had forgotten this is my THIRD pair of 804's! I'm keeping these!!!!!!
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elkcub
Silicon Valley, California
I've sent you a PM.
Ed
