The Brunton Epoch. Brunton? Who is Brunton? And why, of all things, the Epoch?

It is rare for a relatively unknown company to break into the birding market. Kowa did it with the first decent scope in the bigger than 60 mm class (and the first to use exotic materials in the objective), but that product, and its updated 82 mm sibling, are still the only thing Kowa is known for among birders. Swarovski, over the past 15 years, has slowly but steadily transformed itself from a company known mainly in the hunting market to one with a dominant presence in the high end birding market. With their recent EL line and the new compact HD scopes, they have introduced their first set of products which show the direct results of their courtship of birders: products clearly, and successfully, designed with the demands of birding in mind. Nikon continues to make inroads at the high end of the birding market with excellent, standard-setting, optics and aggressive pricing (but their name was a already a household word from their dominance in the professional photography market). Leupold and Stevens, again, known mainly for their hunting optics, primarily rife scopes, has made, over the past 15 years, several attempts to penetrate the birding market, with, so far, limited success (not due to a lack of quality in their products, by the way). Their effort should be a lesson to others thinking they easily or quickly might grab a share of what is, without doubt, the fastest growing optics market on the planet.

The latest contender is Brunton, a company known primarily for surveying equipment and high end compasses. They are now in (if memory serves me right) their sixth or seventh year of trying to figure out how to capture the interests (and the $$s) of birders. They are, in my opinion, going about it the right way. They have established a regular presence at birding conventions and conferences, often sponsoring field trips and events, and handing out samples of their Eterna line of binoculars for birders to try. More than that, they have been listening to birders in the field, talking with those who review optics for publication (here at BVD and elsewhere), tour guides and other high profile birders, and have now put what they have learned into practice in the design of their new Epoch binoculars.

The Epochs are a direct attack on the high end of the market. Brunton set out to design a glass to compete head to head with Leica, Zeiss, Swarovski, Bausch and Lomb, and Nikon. Honestly, there is only so much of a market there, just so many birders who are willing or able to spend that kind of money on binoculars. Still, without a competitive model at the high end, no one is going to take a company seriously. The relatively low profile of Swift or Celestron in the birding market, despite the excellence and value of their low to mid-priced glasses, is evidence of just that.

Clearly, if you are going to be competitive at the high end, you need exceptional optics, optics that provide a bright, clear, wide-field, easy view of the bird, optics that equal the performance of the best glasses out there—and, beyond optics, you need something, or some set of things, to differentiate your glass form all the others on the market. A wise company would go for increased functionality, some set of features that makes the glass easier to use in the field.

So...

Optics: In this day and age, optically, with current technology, it would be next to impossible to produce a binocular that “bettered” the best. In the high end of the market, the resolution of the human eye, and the ability of the human frame to hold the image still enough to extract detail, are now pretty much the limiting factors in performance.

At 7.5 x 43 the Epoch’s view is both brighter than average (even at the high end) and slightly easier to hold steady. Brunton, according to their publicity material, has invested in excellent coatings for both the prisms and the lenses, and it shows in the view. Sharpness is excellent across the field, right to the edges, and, because of relatively high contrast, the view snaps with detail.

As with most roof prism glasses, there is some chromatic aberration (color fringing) present (even in the center of the field). It is particularly apparent in the Epochs (on those rare occasions when it is bothersome at all: scanning along the horizon for sea birds, white birds against a light sky, etc.), since the uncorrected color is blue, rather than the more common greens, reds, and magentas found in other glasses in this price range. (Side by side comparisons show that the Eternas have no more chromatic aberration than the competitors...just a different color.) Most of the time, unless you are one of those who is unnaturally sensitive to chromatic aberration, (or an unfortunate reviewer who has had to train himself to see it), you will not see it all, and it certainly doesn’t seem to interfere with either the color purity or fidelity of the view, both of which are excellent in the Epochs.

The choice of 7.5x, as opposed to 7, or 8, or even the increasingly common 8.5x, is interesting—clearly an attempt to cater to those who prefer the steadier, wider view of 7s more than the detail grabbing view of 8.5s. (Of course they do offer the Epochs in a 10.5x model for those who want higher power.) I find that, at the beginning of a day in the field with the 7.5s, I miss that extra half power compared to the 8s I normally carry, but the longer I am in the field with the 7.5s, the less I miss it. After an hour or so, the ease of the view through the Epochs, and their obvious clarity and detail, have made me forget about the size of the bird in the view and I am back to just enjoying the birds. Which is to say, even birders who have always used 8x glasses, might want to take a longer look at the Epochs before they decide they don’t have enough power. You might easily find that the steadier, easier, view converts you fairly quickly.

So, optically, Brunton has gotten it done. The optics of the Epochs are good enough to earn these new glasses place in the high end market.

Which brings us to: Functionality:

It is in the area of functionality that Brunton pulled out all stops.

You can start with the exceptionally hand (and eye) friendly design of the body. The semi-soft light-grey armor gives the hands a positive, sure, grip. The large raised rubber knobs on the focus wheel (and individual eyepiece correction), while they look striking, are actually carefully designed to give you the best grip on the control under the widest variety of conditions: dry to damp, warm to cold...and they work! The individual eyepiece correction is, by the way, a very intelligent snap-up-to-change, snap-down-to-lock affair.

Of course the body is completely waterproof.

Brunton has also provided the Epochs with the first practical “click stop” eyecups. The eyecups screw in and out for adjustment, but they also have a set of detents, which allow you to leave them part way in or out to match your particular eyerelief needs. This is more critical than it might sound, especially for those of us with eyeglasses, since too much eyerelief is as bothersome as too little (and perhaps more bothersome, since eyerelief that is too long causes the notorious image blackout syndrome*). With the Epochs you can choose from 4 different stops between 11 and 20 mm of eyerelief. (That should be sufficient for most birders, but you can leave them in between stops as well.)

Most of the design efforts on the Epochs, however, have gone into the focus control. Speed of focus, how quickly the glass moves from far out to close in focus, and how much you have to move your fingers to move focus, is always an issue. Many an otherwise excellent glass has been kept from perfection by a focus control that is just too fast (the Bausch and Lomb Elites) or too slow (the Swarovski 8.5x ELs) for comfort. And the difficulty is that focus speed is such a balancing act. You want enough speed so that it does not feel like you are cranking the knob forever to move the focus, and yet the control has to fine enough so that you don’t overshoot correct focus when you get there. There is nothing more frustrating than rocking focus back and forth and back and forth, never being convinced that you are right on the bird—unless, of course, it is wearing your finger out cranking away at the knob to reach focus in the first place. To complicate matters, the apparent speed of focus changes as you move in from far distances to close. Glasses that are fine at the far distances may be way too slow at near—glasses that are exceptional near in, will, very likely, be way too fast far out.

Brunton hit the focus issue head on. They designed what is, as far as I know, the first progressive focus control on the market. The the amount you have to move the control to change focus changes as the distance to the bird changes: small movements close in, longer ones far out. The result is that the apparent speed of focus does not change at all. The same finger motion produces the same apparent change in focus no matter where you are in the focus range. This is revolutionary functionality! This is an epoch making development! And, for those who have always struggled with focus, it could be the making of the Epochs (and Brunton’s name in the market).

The danger here, for Brunton (and the marketing challenge) is that progressive focus feels so natural that many birders simply aren’t going to notice it unless it is pointed out to them. And even then, it takes some time in the field to appreciate the increased functionality—the exceptional ease of focus of these glasses. We are so used to struggling with focus—with the pain of it all—that when the pain goes away we we are unlikely to wonder why. It is gone. Thank you. Now lets see some more birds.

Progressive focus is the right way to do focus, and Brunton has proved that it can be done. Brunton deserves a lot of credit for spending the resources necessary to develop such a subtle, but essential, improvement. I, for one, hope it spurs all the high end makers to consider focus more closely, and to redesign their own products.
Speaking of closely, one of the benefits of the progressive design is that the Epochs focus right down to about 36 inches: an arm’s length, something which butterflyers, in particular, should appreciate (or those of us with those window mounted bird feeders).

The Epochs are not inexpensive binoculars, even by high end standards. They do come with an indestructible waterproof, foam lined, Pelican case and a set of snap on eyepiece and objective covers (see above). The covers are designed to stay on the glasses and flip open and closed at need. Here I think Brunton got carried away with design for design’s sake. A simple and effective rainguard would have been a better choice (something, which, come to think of it, no maker has yet managed to provide!).

Also in the over design category, as far as I am concerned, is the optional 2x extender which turns one barrel of your 7.5s into a 15x mini-scope. If Brunton had managed to design a quicker mounting system (say a bayonet mount that did not require removal of the eyecup and matching of fairly fine threads), then it might be a good idea—as it is, I doubt many birders will find the attachment useful in the field.

So, what is conclusion here? The Brunton Epochs are a legitimate entry into the high-end birding-glass sweepstakes. They have the optical quality to equal the best, and, what is more, they have a few functionality tweaks that set them apart from the rest of the pack. Most significantly, they feature a focus control that should change the way all makers (and all birders) think about focus. Would I carry them as my full-time birding glass? Most definitely!

While the Epochs may not make Brunton a household word in non-birding circles, they are certainly a serious statement of Brunton’s intent to penetrate the birding market. Will the Epochs do for Brunton what the Fluorite scope did for Kowa? I, for one, hope so. The Epochs deserve a place around the neck of many high end birders. Will Brunton become as well known in birding circles as Swarovski, Leica, Zeiss, Bausch and Lomb, Nikon? Well, if it can be done, the Epochs are certainly a step in right direction.

*Image blackout happens when a black circle suddenly and unpredictably replaces the view through the binoculars. I have read several “explanations,” everything from the black spot being the reflection of the pupil in the eyepiece, to its being the result of the eye focusing on something inside the binoculars, but whatever causes it, it is infinitely annoying to those who wear eyeglasses with long eyerelief binoculars. After all we bought the long eyerelief glasses to make looking at birds easier. It shouldn’t make it harder!