Review of the Brunton ICON 25-50x 80mm Angled Scope (1 Viewer)

I am now using the Baader Zoon on the Kowa 823..amazing eyepiece is all I can say..I had to remove the inner threaded ring to be able to reach infinity ( this operation was explained in the forum by another member that used it on the PF65)
Actually the 2 inch nosepiece adapter has the same thread than the Kowa eyepiece cover,so the eyepiece attaches firmly in its original mount design,but sadly cant focus past 20 meters ,when used in this manner..
Henry...Did you reach infinity on the Icon,with the Hyperion?

Edit: I erased part of this post that made reference to the Hyperion zoom reaching barely infinity on the 823,even after modification.This was caused by a less than efficient provisional attachment method that i improvised .The eyepiece DOES focus past infinity at all magnifications with a few diopters of overrun

Mayoayo,

Sorry for the late reply to your question about the Hyperion zoom on the ICON scope. It reaches infinity focus with about 8-9mm to spare between the base of the eyepiece body (with 1.25' adapter in place) and the locking collar on the scope body. So, as long as a 1.25" adapter adds less than 8mm to the back of the scope body beyond the locking ring it should work.

Ziabeam,

Are you still working on the adapters for Kowa and Brunton scopes?

Henry

Henry, that is a lot of focus travel..remember the test with the pentax and also with Regals,,the hyperion would not reach focus with the astro adapter in place,let alone 9 mm to spare!!...add 5 mm from the collar depth and another mm from the 11/4 adapter and you have 14 mm from the top of the scope base to the actual bottom of the eyepiece..I think most other scopes would loose infinity with an eyepiece sitting so high above their mount....what is the near focus point at with its own eyepiece?..It must be real close with the eyepiece so farup..

Yep, the ICON does have more focus travel than many spotting scopes, particularly ones that focus by moving a prism rather than a focusing lens.

The near focus point with the original 25-50x zoom is about 4m. Unfortunately, excessive spherical aberration at that distance makes the image quality very poor. There is also quite a lot of extra travel beyond infinity with the original zoom. The generous travel beyond infinity is why the scope can easily accommodate eyepieces that require more than average in-focus, like the Hyperion zoom.

Henry

Whats really Important ?

Ziabeam said:

More thinking out loud....
If the Nikon line Henry pointed out is viable, and already has 1.25" astro-type stems ???, then that sensibly dampens the notion of adapting Vortex or Zen-Ray zoom eyepieces for use in the Pentax PF65, unless only the Vortex/Zen-Ray would achieve infinite focus, coupled with exemplary performance in other key respects. Also noteworthy is the fact that gcole's photos seem to indicate the fixed variants (absent '3-screw-upgradeable bayonets) are not suitable for converting to 1.25".

At least the Brunton 1.25" adapter still seems plausible.

I'm just warming up my thinking cap. Never mind the babbling.

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I recently e-mailed Ziabeam & found out that he & his family are dealing with a life changing medical condition involving his wife which is now at home recovering from a very serious operation. To answer my own Post ... Family is the most important thing & I am sure all of us here would agree & wish his wife a speedy & full recovery ..... gwen

gcole said:

I recently e-mailed Ziabeam & found out that he & his family are dealing with a life changing medical condition involving his wife which is now at home recovering from a very serious operation. To answer my own Post ... Family is the most important thing & I am sure all of us here would agree & wish his wife a speedy & full recovery ..... gwen

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Amen Brudder, amen.

I also want to wish a speedy recovery and God Bless. This is when we need him the most.

Jerry

Thanks gwen. Hope for a speedy recovery from me too.

Henry