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Brunton's Epoch/Icon Flag Ship Spotting Scopes. (1 Viewer)

G

gcole

Well-known member
United States
A little over a month ago we received (1) new Epoch MD 20-60 80mm spotting scope from a seller on Ebay to compare to other spotters I have owned & currently own ( Kowa TSN -883 ). We were impressed the moment we took it out of the box. This is a top of the line, Japan made spotter which in my opinion is as good as any out there. Having said this, I will admit I did not like the 20-60 zoom supplied with this unit. I do not care for zooms, that's just me. The Kowa 25-50 zoom I have on my TSN-883 is an exception. Since Brunton only produced these scopes with zooms, I decided to try a Pentax XW20 fixed eyepiece which I hand held in place. The view was amazing, I even liked it better than my Kowa 883 with its 25x eyepiece. After playing around/testing different waterproof silicone epoxies, we decided to permanently attached the Pentax eyepiece to the Brunton Epoch. The result .... the Pentax XW20 eyepiece physically was a perfect fit. The Brunton & Pentax combo now looks as if it originally came with the scope. I will post pictures soon. We liked this scope so much, that when I saw the Brunton-ICON 2550(25-50) 80mm now discounted down to $599.95 from $4,395. from Botach.com we placed a order for (4) scopes & just received them last week. They arrived in perfect new condition & the 25-50 zoom is much better than the 20-60 version supplied with the Epoch. .... gwen
 
Last edited:
gcole said:
?.......We liked this scope so much, that when I saw the Brunton-ICON 2550(25-50) 80mm now discounted down to $599.95 from $4,395. from Botach.com we placed a order for (4) scopes & just received them last week. They arrived in perfect new condition & the 25-50 zoom is much better than the 20-60 version supplied with the Epoch. .... gwen
Click to expand...

Gwen, great find! As you look at the mount does it appear to be unique or is it a Kowa, Leica, Swarovski clone? Or some other more familiar manufacturer?

Best and Happy New Year,
Jerry
 
Brunton has discontinued their optics business recently, so that is why they are clearing
things out.

Any warranty going forward is doubtful. Lots of posts if you do a web search.

I do think this should be made clear, for those watching.

Jerry
 
The ICON scope is so cheap from Botach.com that I couldn't resist ordering one (15 day return policy). It should be here in a few days. I'll put it through the usual tests and post the results.
 
Hi Steve,

My first choice would have been the 20-60x angled version, but the only angled scope still in stock was the one with the 25-50x wide angle zoom. If it's good enough to keep I'll use my Zeiss tripler or Bushnell doubler for higher magnification.

Henry
 
Hi Henry,

I was looking at the 20x60x angled myself, it says back ordered, but I wonder. I am not sure why Gwen would say the 25-50x zoom was much better than the 20-60x , this made me wonder how good the optics are in these spotters.80mm should hold up to 60x W/O much problem.
 
Steve,

The 20-60x that Gwen didn't like is a different eyepiece design supplied with the Epoch scope. I expect the ICON has the usual spread of good and bad individual units, just like every other scope I've tried. Even at the $600 bargain basement price the one I receive will still need to be close to 1/4 wave or back it goes.

Henry
 
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mooreorless said:
Hi Henry,

I was looking at the 20x60x angled myself, it says back ordered, but I wonder. I am not sure why Gwen would say the 25-50x zoom was much better than the 20-60x , this made me wonder how good the optics are in these spotters.80mm should hold up to 60x W/O much problem.
Click to expand...

Steve, can't speak for Gwen but I would assume it has more to do with the wider fov than the magnification of the zoom ep's.

Bryce...
 
Henry and Bryce, Thanks for your replies! These were $4000 scopes at that price they should of been at least or better than 1/4 wave.;) I have the Nikon 50ED and 60ED and wish the 60 was the 82mm and why I have an interest in this scope. I am sure the price is what kept these scopes from selling and not much user information as well. I would probably sell the 60ED if I bought one of these and liked it enough. Maybe I should forget about this and just use my excellent Celestron 80ED refractor. Non WP though.
 
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Steve,

I just realized that the ICON and the Epoch are the same scope, so the zoom eyepieces should be identical. Maybe Gwen will tell us more about what was wrong with the 20-60x.

Henry
 
henry link said:
Steve,

I just realized that the ICON and the Epoch are the same scope, so the zoom eyepieces should be identical. Maybe Gwen will tell us more about what was wrong with the 20-60x.

Henry
Click to expand...

HI EVERYONE .... I am sorry that I have not replied to the private messages I have received regarding my purchases of the Epoch and ICON scopes. A few days after I made the original post, we left for a 2,500 mile road trip to Florida for six weeks for some warm sightseeing & birding. I have been on the road for the past 6 days. We just arrive at our southern destination so I will cut this short and I will answer my private messages and chime in on the discussion here tomorrow, but I will say ... "Yes", I agree with Henry that the Epoch and the ICON appear to be the same scope but with a different color of armor. I will say that I like the 25x50 zoom better. It just seemed brighter to my eyes and easier to look through. ...... gwen
 
Last edited:
NDhunter said:
Brunton has discontinued their optics business recently, so that is why they are clearing
things out.

Any warranty going forward is doubtful. Lots of posts if you do a web search.

I do think this should be made clear, for those watching.

Jerry
Click to expand...
Hi Jerry ..... Before I purchased these scopes I was fully aware that there would be no warranty coverage. After I originally purchased the Epoch(ICON) which has a mustard brown armor, I went ahead with the purchases of the ICON scopes due to how well I thought these were made(JAPAN). All the units I received arrived with no issues & when I placed my order they had a promo, 1 Brunton tripod with case for each scope included for free. Since I have not seen or handled any 80mm scope made in China or elsewhere to equal its quality at the current discount price, I would highly recommend the purchase of this scope. I did see while searching the web Brunton had a cutoff date in order to have warranty coverage, the scopes now sold would not be covered. ......gwen
 
gcole said:
Thanks ... I just got out of the pool, in upstate NY it would be a ice rink ..gwen
Click to expand...
I was in Florida as a kid, I swam every day in a pool, got swimmer's ear.;) Loved it down there though. Pool was screened in. Looks like tomorrow it will start to get very cold here.
 
JerryLogan said:
Gwen, great find! As you look at the mount does it appear to be unique or is it a Kowa, Leica, Swarovski clone? Or some other more familiar manufacturer?

Best and Happy New Year,
Jerry
Click to expand...
Hi Jerry .... The zoom appears to have the same design as all the above, I can say for sure the spec's are completely different than the Kowa (would never fit). The stem on the zoom eyepiece on the Leica, Swarovski, Vortex & ZRS might not be long enough. From what I can see from pictures of the other zooms they do not seem to have the same stem length. Maybe when Henry receives his he could shed more light on this since he has had more experience comparing different types of zooms ... gwen
 
gcole said:
A little over a month ago we received (1) new Epoch MD 20-60 80mm spotting scope from a seller on Ebay to compare to other spotters I have owned & currently own ( Kowa TSN -883 ). We were impressed the moment we took it out of the box. This is a top of the line, Japan made spotter which in my opinion is as good as any out there. Having said this, I will admit I did not like the 20-60 zoom supplied with this unit. I do not care for zooms, that's just me. The Kowa 25-50 zoom I have on my TSN-883 is an exception. Since Brunton only produced these scopes with zooms, I decided to try a Pentax XW20 fixed eyepiece which I hand held in place. The view was amazing, I even liked it better than my Kowa 883 with its 25x eyepiece. After playing around/testing different waterproof silicone epoxies, we decided to permanently attached the Pentax eyepiece to the Brunton Epoch. The result .... the Pentax XW20 eyepiece physically was a perfect fit. The Brunton & Pentax combo now looks as if it originally came with the scope. I will post pictures soon. We liked this scope so much, that when I saw the Brunton-ICON 2550(25-50) 80mm now discounted down to $599.95 from $4,395. from Botach.com we placed a order for (4) scopes & just received them last week. They arrived in perfect new condition & the 25-50 zoom is much better than the 20-60 version supplied with the Epoch. .... gwen
Click to expand...
Since this post was made , we have made a trip south & I brought the Epoch with us planning to take a picture of the Epoch with the now Pentax XW20 eyepiece now attached but something has gone wrong with the camera I normally use. It looks like I will not be able to send that picture until the first or 2nd week in Feb when I get back home. ..... gwen
 
Sorry I haven't had much time the last few days for testing or posting. The bayonet mount on the Brunton is not even close to compatible with Zeiss or Swarovski (which also eliminates the Chinese Swarovski clones) and, from pictures, it doesn't look compatible with Leica either.
 
Brunton Epoch Spotting Scope With The Pentax XW Eyepiece Attached.

gcole said:
A little over a month ago we received (1) new Epoch MD 20-60 80mm spotting scope from a seller on Ebay to compare to other spotters I have owned & currently own ( Kowa TSN -883 ). We were impressed the moment we took it out of the box. This is a top of the line, Japan made spotter which in my opinion is as good as any out there. Having said this, I will admit I did not like the 20-60 zoom supplied with this unit. I do not care for zooms, that's just me. The Kowa 25-50 zoom I have on my TSN-883 is an exception. Since Brunton only produced these scopes with zooms, I decided to try a Pentax XW20 fixed eyepiece which I hand held in place. The view was amazing, I even liked it better than my Kowa 883 with its 25x eyepiece. After playing around/testing different waterproof silicone epoxies, we decided to permanently attached the Pentax eyepiece to the Brunton Epoch. The result .... the Pentax XW20 eyepiece physically was a perfect fit. The Brunton & Pentax combo now looks as if it originally came with the scope. I will post pictures soon. We liked this scope so much, that when I saw the Brunton-ICON 2550(25-50) 80mm now discounted down to $599.95 from $4,395. from Botach.com we placed a order for (4) scopes & just received them last week. They arrived in perfect new condition & the 25-50 zoom is much better than the 20-60 version supplied with the Epoch. .... gwen
Click to expand...
This is what the Epoch spotter now looks like with the Pentax XW20 eyepiece now permanently mounted. The last photo is the remaining (4) with the 25-50 zoom. For those interested I will be selling this version(with XW20 eyepiece) as well as the other (4) new Brunton Icon spotting scopes with the 25-50 zooms ..gwen
 

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