wmidbrook
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After researching and talking to a lot of various retailers about binos in the 15x range, I purchased a pair of Brunton (Riverton, Wyo) 15x51's. They are phase corrected BaK-4 prisms with "exotic" full coated lenses. Bruton redesigned their Eterna line and introduced them to the market this past year.
My research before talking to the sales rep at Optics4Birding had narrowed down my choices to Minox 15x58s or the Fujinon 15x60 HBs. Problem was that there was absolutely no place for me to try these two out before making a decision.
In the preceding months, I had looked through a pair of Swaro 15x58, and 10x42s at WildSports in Orangevale. Then compared the Swaro 10x42 to the Zeiss Conquest line 10x42--quite frankly, they were so similar in quality that I could not tell much difference. My 20x15 vision readily spots lens quality issues. That made it plausible for me to believe that there was a comparible deal for the 15x's out there somewhere. Not much, if any, sacrifice in quality for a whole lot less $$$.
I did find a cous deer hunter out in AZ who swears by his Fuji 10x60 HBs and another hunter in Wyo who swears by them too....they had similar claims stating that they were a great value in Binos. The Fuji's have an added benefit of being able to add a doubler like the Swaros.
The Optics4Birding rep stated that everyone in their shop was "blown away" by the quality of the Brunton Eterna line given its prices. They were convinced that they were every bit as good as the conquest lines. Also comparable to the Minox and the Fuji's. The Brutons were lighter than the other two by quite a bit, and tripod mountable as well.
They arrived after ording them a few weeks ago. I mounted them on my tripod and proceeded to test them. The lens quality is outstanding in terms of resolution and color transmission. 10x's better than my old Nikon Monarchs. I could easily see the detail in the bark of almond trees over 100 yards away clearly all around the lenses including the edges without having to refocus~! Towards sunset, I pointed the bino's next to the sun just above the trees. No flare whatsoever.
My biggest concern about them was that they would not transmit enough light at dawn/dusk especially relative to the Minox and Fuji with their larger exit pupils and larger objective lenses. This proved not to be an issue as I was able to see under the trees in the nearby orchard until past shooting time....whew, I wouldn't have to exchange them for the Fuji's afterall.
My one complaint is that the tradeoff for such a "flat" picture is that the bino's will blackout fairly easily. In other words, you have to have your eyes positioned just so or the picture will black out. I have my eyes right in the twist eyecups (these binos will work for glass wearers too since the twist cups adjust quite a bit). This was okay after I got used to it but it was an annoyance until I figured out where my eyes needed to be.
The ergonmics are great. I am even able to hold the 15x bino's by hand for a bit and get a clear picture which I never thought I'd be able to do. Although most of the time they will be mounted on a tripod--they even come packaged with a tripod adapter. The diopter adjuster works fine and holds. At $500, they are a great value. The neoprene "gloves" which double as lense covers are alright--not fully used to that concept yet. All in all, I'm definately sold on Brunton's Eterna line.
My research before talking to the sales rep at Optics4Birding had narrowed down my choices to Minox 15x58s or the Fujinon 15x60 HBs. Problem was that there was absolutely no place for me to try these two out before making a decision.
In the preceding months, I had looked through a pair of Swaro 15x58, and 10x42s at WildSports in Orangevale. Then compared the Swaro 10x42 to the Zeiss Conquest line 10x42--quite frankly, they were so similar in quality that I could not tell much difference. My 20x15 vision readily spots lens quality issues. That made it plausible for me to believe that there was a comparible deal for the 15x's out there somewhere. Not much, if any, sacrifice in quality for a whole lot less $$$.
I did find a cous deer hunter out in AZ who swears by his Fuji 10x60 HBs and another hunter in Wyo who swears by them too....they had similar claims stating that they were a great value in Binos. The Fuji's have an added benefit of being able to add a doubler like the Swaros.
The Optics4Birding rep stated that everyone in their shop was "blown away" by the quality of the Brunton Eterna line given its prices. They were convinced that they were every bit as good as the conquest lines. Also comparable to the Minox and the Fuji's. The Brutons were lighter than the other two by quite a bit, and tripod mountable as well.
They arrived after ording them a few weeks ago. I mounted them on my tripod and proceeded to test them. The lens quality is outstanding in terms of resolution and color transmission. 10x's better than my old Nikon Monarchs. I could easily see the detail in the bark of almond trees over 100 yards away clearly all around the lenses including the edges without having to refocus~! Towards sunset, I pointed the bino's next to the sun just above the trees. No flare whatsoever.
My biggest concern about them was that they would not transmit enough light at dawn/dusk especially relative to the Minox and Fuji with their larger exit pupils and larger objective lenses. This proved not to be an issue as I was able to see under the trees in the nearby orchard until past shooting time....whew, I wouldn't have to exchange them for the Fuji's afterall.
My one complaint is that the tradeoff for such a "flat" picture is that the bino's will blackout fairly easily. In other words, you have to have your eyes positioned just so or the picture will black out. I have my eyes right in the twist eyecups (these binos will work for glass wearers too since the twist cups adjust quite a bit). This was okay after I got used to it but it was an annoyance until I figured out where my eyes needed to be.
The ergonmics are great. I am even able to hold the 15x bino's by hand for a bit and get a clear picture which I never thought I'd be able to do. Although most of the time they will be mounted on a tripod--they even come packaged with a tripod adapter. The diopter adjuster works fine and holds. At $500, they are a great value. The neoprene "gloves" which double as lense covers are alright--not fully used to that concept yet. All in all, I'm definately sold on Brunton's Eterna line.
