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

J

justabirdwatcher

Well-known member
Had a good opportunity to compare my Brunton Epoch's with a pair of Swarovski EL 8.5x42's today. A nice birder allowed me to borrow hers for a little while and compare them side by side.

I'm very glad I did. The image the Brunton's gave me seemed as sharp to my eyes and dare I say, even a touch brighter than the Swaro's. The ergonomics on the Swaro's beat the Bruntons by a little but, but not enough for me to feel I was missing out.

These Epoch's are real sleepers. I'm very thankful to the folks here for mentioning them on the binocular bargain thread.

Sorry I can't provide more technical information. I'm not nearly as knowledgeable as some here about the details of optics. But I do have 20/10 vision and feel I know a good view when I see it. My job allows me to encounter people with a lot of different types of binoculars, and I always enjoy looking at the different models.
 
justabirdwatcher said:
Had a good opportunity to compare my Brunton Epoch's with a pair of Swarovski EL 8.5x42's today. A nice birder allowed me to borrow hers for a little while and compare them side by side.

I'm very glad I did. The image the Brunton's gave me seemed as sharp to my eyes and dare I say, even a touch brighter than the Swaro's. The ergonomics on the Swaro's beat the Bruntons by a little but, but not enough for me to feel I was missing out.

These Epoch's are real sleepers. I'm very thankful to the folks here for mentioning them on the binocular bargain thread.
Click to expand...

I agree, emphatically - the full size last generation Brunton Epochs are real sleepers, with their remarkable and innovative focus mechanism and brilliant razor sharp views. The 8.5 x 43 has for me just a little too much eye relief making eye placement difficult. The 10.5 x 43 doesn't suffer from this issue and its exceptional wide field view is addictive. And yes, I own both models. It's a shame Brunton's inept marketing efforts left these two really excellent binoculars as orphans.
 
The 8.5 x 43 has for me just a little too much eye relief making eye placement difficult.
Click to expand...

I agree. I remedied the issue with some rubber O-rings under the eye piece threads. And after having these 8.5's for a while, I cannot wait to find a pair of 10.5's someday. I will be keeping an eye out for those for sure.
 
justabirdwatcher said:
Had a good opportunity to compare my Brunton Epoch's with a pair of Swarovski EL 8.5x42's today. A nice birder allowed me to borrow hers for a little while and compare them side by side.

I'm very glad I did. The image the Brunton's gave me seemed as sharp to my eyes and dare I say, even a touch brighter than the Swaro's. The ergonomics on the Swaro's beat the Bruntons by a little but, but not enough for me to feel I was missing out.

These Epoch's are real sleepers. I'm very thankful to the folks here for mentioning them on the binocular bargain thread.

Sorry I can't provide more technical information. I'm not nearly as knowledgeable as some here about the details of optics. But I do have 20/10 vision and feel I know a good view when I see it. My job allows me to encounter people with a lot of different types of binoculars, and I always enjoy looking at the different models.
Click to expand...
I compared the Brunton's 8.5x43 at one time to a Nikon Monarch 7 8x42 and I would have to disagree with you IMO there are binoculars 1/3 their cost that are better optically. The alpha's are way better. The Cornell review agrees also.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/bbimages/lb/2013/autumn/bins/Binocular_review_full_spreadsheet.pdf
 
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I also have the 8.5 x 43 epoch and i agree the view is superb , the only downside is the slightly narrow field of view,i bought mine brand new on ebay from a girl who won them in a raffle at her company christmas party..price £270 , a real bargain , i don't think i would have paid full price , i have also tried the monarch 8x42 and imo the epoch was much much better , but we all see things differently don't we .
 
Justabirdwatcher ...... Is the 8.5X Swarovski mentioned in the first post the prior generation non Swarovision model? I assume that is the case since the SV designation was not used, but I just want to make sure.

Thanks.
 
The 8.5x43 Epoch is pretty darn nice; some hunter at a Refuge where I worked let me view through his for a bit and I thought it was as sharp as the non-SV EL I had on hand.

Justin
 
[email protected] said:
I compared the Brunton's 8.5x43 at one time to a Nikon Monarch 7 8x42 and I would have to disagree with you IMO there are binoculars 1/3 their cost that are better optically. The alpha's are way better. The Cornell review agrees also.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/bbimages/lb/2013/autumn/bins/Binocular_review_full_spreadsheet.pdf
Click to expand...

The version Cornell reviewed and I suspect the version you tried was version 1. The last generation Epoch is dramatically better than its predecessors (wider FOV, much sharper and more contrasty view, better glare control etc.).Why Brunton didn't advertise the improvements is a real mystery, but they didn't and they ended up running their binocular business out of business. Truly, a shame.
 
chartwell99 said:
The version Cornell reviewed and I suspect the version you tried was version 1. The last generation Epoch is dramatically better than its predecessors (wider FOV, much sharper and more contrasty view, better glare control etc.).Why Brunton didn't advertise the improvements is a real mystery, but they didn't and they ended up running their binocular business out of business. Truly, a shame.
Click to expand...
No, the version I tested and compared to the Nikon Monarch's 7 was the newer version with the 370 foot FOV and this was also the version Cornell tested. The older version of Brunton Epoch's had a 315 foot FOV. The reason Brunton went out of business is they were asking alpha prices and they didn't deliver an alpha view. Simple as that. All the alpha binoculars in the Cornell study were 4.7 and above on optics, whereas, the Brunton's were only 3.8. Even the lowly $199.00 Atlas Optics Sky King beat the Brunton's on optics. Sorry, but they didn't impress me at all.
 
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[email protected] said:
No, the version I tested and compared to the Nikon Monarch's 7 were the newer version with the 370 foot FOV and this was also the version Cornell tested. The older version of Brunton Epoch's had a 315 foot FOV. The reason Brunton went out of business is they were asking alpha prices and they didn't deliver an alpha view. Simple as that. All the alpha binoculars in the Cornell study were 4.7 and above on optics, whereas, the Brunton's were only 3.8. Even the lowly $199.00 Atlas Optics Sky King beat the Brunton's on optics. Sorry, but they didn't impress me at all.
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The last generation Epochs had a of Field of View of 378 ft @ 1,000 yds (7.2 degrees) not 370 as reported by Cornell. The problem, unfortunately, is that Brunton never told anyone, certainly not prospective purchasers, of the continuing and meaningful improvements. Perhaps they were stuck with unsold inventory but the last generation versions were unheralded and special.
 
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Denco, I'll have to respectfully disagree with you. And I suspect a few friends of mine I steered toward that Brunton deal would as well, as would a couple birders I met last month who both had 8.5x43 Epochs and were in love with them.

But as was said, we all see through these bin's differently, and I suspect there was something about those Brunton's that didn't agree with your vision. And that's good enough. I'm glad we have choices.

I just thought I'd let folks know that with my eyes (and again, I've seen a LOT of high-end binocs in the past 20 years) these are on par with the best.
 
BruceH said:
Justabirdwatcher ...... Is the 8.5X Swarovski mentioned in the first post the prior generation non Swarovision model? I assume that is the case since the SV designation was not used, but I just want to make sure.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry Bruce. I didn't notice or ask and I don't know all the Swaro models that well. They were open hinge 8.5x42's and I am pretty sure I remember EL on them. That's all I know.

I didn't want to take them too long, but I did wander about with them to look at some bright and dimly lit scenes at different distances.

As I said, I was completely satisfied with my Bruntons afterwards and was happy to hand back the Swaros.
 
Brunton Epoch was/is very seldom discussed until recently, which I guess might be due to a good closeout sale and increased the number of owners. I compared the Epoch 8.5x43 V.2 with my Alpha's'. No, of course not. They are not Alpha class optically, but comfortably par Conquest HD. Mechanically and the feel/smoothness of the focuser is superb. Personally, I prefer the focusing to be a bit slower. It very accurate but sensitive.

I agreed that the V.2 version is an improvement. It performs better than the 7.5x43 V.1 I once had previously.
 
I compared the Epoch 8.5x43 V.2 with my Alpha's'. No, of course not. They are not Alpha class optically,
Click to expand...

I find it amazing here how quick people are to dismiss anything that isn't a Swaro, Leica or high-end Zeiss.

Specifically, what did I miss?

I had both pairs in my hands, I've seen literally thousands of pairs of binoculars while leading bird tours in the past 25 years, and I have 20/10 vision.

What specifically is it that I am missing about the image? I really want to know.

Ergonomics are another issue. But image quality from one to the next seemed nearly identical to me, except that the Bruntons were just slightly brighter and the Swaros were just slightly warmer.
 
Justabirdwatcher ... Thanks for the reply. The reason I asked is because the SV version in addition to lens flatteners, has updated glass. The prior Swaro EL is very nice, but the view from the SV version is supposed to be somewhat better. I was curious as to which was being compared. They can be difficult to tell apart until you learn what to look for.
 
BruceH said:
Justabirdwatcher ... Thanks for the reply. The reason I asked is because the SV version in addition to lens flatteners, has updated glass. The prior Swaro EL is very nice, but the view from the SV version is supposed to be somewhat better. I was curious as to which was being compared. They can be difficult to tell apart until you learn what to look for.
Click to expand...

Okay thanks. I'll look for that in the future. I see so many pairs of Swaro's each week it won't be long before I have a chance to look through some of the 8.5x43 EL SV's, I'm sure.
 
justabirdwatcher said:
I find it amazing here how quick people are to dismiss anything that isn't a Swaro, Leica or high-end Zeiss.

Specifically, what did I miss?

I had both pairs in my hands, I've seen literally thousands of pairs of binoculars while leading bird tours in the past 25 years, and I have 20/10 vision.

What specifically is it that I am missing about the image? I really want to know.

Ergonomics are another issue. But image quality from one to the next seemed nearly identical to me, except that the Bruntons were just slightly brighter and the Swaros were just slightly warmer.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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