• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Brunton Epoch 8.5x43 vs. Swaro EL 8.5x42 (1 Viewer)

perterra said:
The key thing to keep in mind is you are trying to make you happy, not someone else. Winn said they equaled a Conquest HD, okay, but for me the Conquest HD pretty much equaled any I tried. But I dont pay a lot of attention to anything other than what I am looking at. Others seem to fixate on everything about the optic other than what they are seeing.
Click to expand...

PT

As far as I can understand, it is not possible to eliminate any optical aberration without making another worse, although much can be done to minimise these.

Since this means that a good handful of 'issues' are therefore always going to be present to some degree, it makes no sense to me to use special methods to reveal these issues unless any of them actually interfere with normal observing.

If normal observing can be done without being spoiled by any of these issues then I am a happy bunny :t:

Of course we can always discuss and argue about brightness, colour, FOV and perceived sharpness but my bins are used for observing not agonising.

Lee
 
Troubador said:
PT

As far as I can understand, it is not possible to eliminate any optical aberration without making another worse, although much can be done to minimise these.

Since this means that a good handful of 'issues' are therefore always going to be present to some degree, it makes no sense to me to use special methods to reveal these issues unless any of them actually interfere with normal observing.

If normal observing can be done without being spoiled by any of these issues then I am a happy bunny :t:

Of course we can always discuss and argue about brightness, colour, FOV and perceived sharpness but my bins are used for observing not agonising.

Lee
Click to expand...

:t: When looking at a great horned owl, thats all I see. If I happen to be using my old Bushnell Natureviews that dont have the sharpness of others, I bring them in to focus as best I can and then look for what I wish to see. My mind seems to be very effecient at filtering out anything but owl.
 
Took a trip to the local Bass Pro yesterday and was surprised to find they had both the Swaro EL 8.5x42 and SLC 10x42 in stock. So I did what anyone would do, and went to my car to get my Brunton's to compare to the two. The salesperson was very patient and very interested in my Brunton's when I brought them in. Said he had a buddy who loved theirs, but he hadn't seen through them. So we handed bin's back and forth for a while. What we concluded was the SLC 10x42's were noticably brighter than both my Brunton's and the EL 8.5's, despite them being 10x to the 8.5x of the others. That was surprising. We both would have thought the 8.5's would have been brighter.

I was pretty blown away by the SLC 10x42's and am now looking to add those as my 10x bin. The Swaro EL 8.5's did not impress me, despite their $2200 price tag. I would take my Brunton's over those any day, as they are smaller, lighter and just as sharp and bright.

Those SLC 10x42's may be the best optic I've ever put to my eyes. I could find absolutely nothing wrong with them.
 
justabirdwatcher said:
Took a trip to the local Bass Pro yesterday and was surprised to find they had both the Swaro EL 8.5x42 and SLC 10x42 in stock. So I did what anyone would do, and went to my car to get my Brunton's to compare to the two. The salesperson was very patient and very interested in my Brunton's when I brought them in. Said he had a buddy who loved theirs, but he hadn't seen through them. So we handed bin's back and forth for a while. What we concluded was the SLC 10x42's were noticably brighter than both my Brunton's and the EL 8.5's, despite them being 10x to the 8.5x of the others. That was surprising. We both would have thought the 8.5's would have been brighter.

I was pretty blown away by the SLC 10x42's and am now looking to add those as my 10x bin. The Swaro EL 8.5's did not impress me, despite their $2200 price tag. I would take my Brunton's over those any day, as they are smaller, lighter and just as sharp and bright.

Those SLC 10x42's may be the best optic I've ever put to my eyes. I could find absolutely nothing wrong with them.
Click to expand...
Were the Swarovski EL 8.5x42's the Swarovision model? I am surprised they didn't impress you. They do most people. Not all binoculars work for all people. The SLC 10x42's are excellent binoculars.
 
Last edited:
Hi,i posted earlier on this thread about how impressed i was with the Brunto , apart from the narrow fov ,i ordered a pair of slc 10x42 yesterday , spooky !!!!! , should get the on wedenesday.
 
[email protected] said:
Were the Swarovski EL 8.5x42's the Swarovision model? I am surprised they didn't impress you. They do most people. Not all binoculars work for all people. The SLC 10x42's are excellent binoculars.
Click to expand...

Once again, I didn't check for this. They had a $2200 price tag on them. The SLC's were $1800, but I thought they were better.

The EL's were very much like my Brunton's. Nearly the exact same view to both my eyes and the salesperson (who is a veteran hunter himself). The SLC's were noticably brighter, despite being 10x vs 8.5.

As for the "Swaro convert..." There has never been any doubt in my mind that Swaro makes many of the best binocs in the world. I've just never been able to justify spending that much on something I consider a non-necessity.

However, my 25th anniversary is quickly approaching, and my wife may think otherwise. Who knows.

John
 
justabirdwatcher said:
There has never been any doubt in my mind that Swaro makes many of the best binocs in the world. I've just never been able to justify spending that much on something I consider a non-necessity.
John
Click to expand...

I had this "problem" until last August, when I said "To hell with it!" and ordered a pair of 10X42 EL SV from Eagle Optics.

They still amaze me, even after nine months
 
justabirdwatcher said:
I might be selling mine. But they will be tough to get rid of, as I don't think anyone will pay what they are actually worth.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately even if they were the right price, shipping and possible import duty/tax would make them too expensive, hence me asking daveman as he's UK based. Cheers anyway :t:
 
[email protected] said:
We have two Swarovski converts.
Click to expand...

denco, I know I've been a PITA concerning lots of your posts (please forgive me, seriously), but I'm here to tell ya..........I fondled a set of 8.5x SV's today and.....DAYUMMMM!!!!! What a set of optics! Did not see the dreaded rolling ball at all like I did the first time, a year or so ago. I think I'm ruined!
 
jgraider said:
denco, I know I've been a PITA concerning lots of your posts (please forgive me, seriously), but I'm here to tell ya..........I fondled a set of 8.5x SV's today and.....DAYUMMMM!!!!! What a set of optics! Did not see the dreaded rolling ball at all like I did the first time, a year or so ago. I think I'm ruined!
Click to expand...
The 8.5 x42 Swarovisions have a little more RB than the 8x32 SV but I never found it objectionable. Many people do not see it at all. I don't see it at all in the 8x32 SV's which I have. From what I hear on the Zeiss forum the new Zeiss 8x42 SF's have MORE RB than the Swarovski's. That is pretty funny. Swarovski makes some nice binoculars. HaHa!
 
Even though I have my new-to-me Swaro SLC's, and a co-worker really, really wants my Bruntons, I'm having a hard time letting go of them.

I've tried and tried, and can simply see no difference in sharpness between those and any Swaro I've looked through, including my current SLC's. My SLC's appear slightly brighter and slightly cooler in color, but the Brunton's are just as sharp and have a pleasant, warmer tone and great contrast.

If my Brunton Epochs were 10.5 instead of 8.5 and didn't have the annoying "too much" eye relief (I've been told the 10.5's don't have that issue) I don't think I'd ever get rid of them.
 
Thanks to the contributors of the topic. It is very informative and educative.
I will like to ask if there is any way to measure the economic value of my pair of 8.5 Epochs. someone is interested in it. Because I read that the economic value is worth what someone is willing to pay.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 3 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

Passakorn
How do other alphas compare to the Swarovski EL 8.5x42 and Zeiss Victory 8x25 Combo?
2
Replies
24
Views
2K
Rg548
R
O
Looking to upgrade from my SLC
2
Replies
27
Views
2K
albie...
A
R
Analysing Binoculars
Replies
6
Views
682
beacon hill
beacon hill
chill6x6
SFL vs. Aurora...
2 3
Replies
40
Views
4K
tenex
tenex
I
Analysis Paralysis- Please help me choose!
2 3
Replies
42
Views
2K
Patudo
P

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top