Comments on: Brunton Echo 10-30×21 Zoom Monocular

By: J. Bickel

J. Bickel — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:55:28 +0000

Review by J. Bickel for Brunton Echo 10-30x21 Zoom Monocular Rating: I bought this to throw in my glovebox to view deer from the road. Seems good if not using any of the zoom magnification, becomes blurry if zoomed over 10x. Over all nice simple optics. ~Jeff

By: Allen Low

Allen Low — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:06:31 +0000

Review by Allen Low for Brunton Echo 10-30x21 Zoom Monocular Rating: At high power zoom, the view become very dim and the field of view become very small. The front cap is also very loose, it keep falling out. Carry pouch are too small as well.

By: John K.

John K. — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 21:17:54 +0000

Review by John K. for Brunton Echo 10-30x21 Zoom Monocular Rating: I own several monoculars and this is by far the best. The image quality is very good for a product of this size. The small field of view is not great for sporting events where the subjects are in motion, but it's a great item for viewing still and slow moving objects. The minimal weight and small size make it easy to take along on almost any outdoor activity. I particularly like the tripod mounting capability. I can screw it into the camera mount on my walking pole for a stable view at 30X.

By: J. Byron

J. Byron — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 21:13:30 +0000

Review by J. Byron for Brunton Echo 10-30x21 Zoom Monocular Rating: I am an individual who is visually impaired, and I rely on monoculars to read signs, signals, menus, cell phones, and to look at scenery. I use them at the boundaries of their functionality--difficult lighting, close focus, etc, and this one seems like a great monocular for people who want to look at distant objects with large magnification, but not some of the other things like close focus or low light conditions.

The Basics:
The monocular is the same size as a stanrard 10-power monocular. There are two dials to adjust--one is the focus and the other is the zoom mechanism. You'll notice once you hack open the plastic shield packaging that the monocular comes with a carrying case, a short (4 inches or so) strap, and a lens cleaning cloth. When you look through the monocular, the focus is relatively easy to manipulate, but it really requires 2 hands to operate this unit because the focus and the zoom are in places where the human hand cannot manipulate them without a second hand to hold the monocular steady. Also, you should be used to looking through these monoculars, as the 30x rating means that you'll need a steady hand at full magnification. I do find the unit to be visually attractive, and there is a mount for a tripod.

The Good:
Small size and lite weight makes this a great scope for birdwatching or camping. If you've got a steady hand, this will be a great buy. The image is reasonably bright, but if you want real brightness from a 30x scope, you're going to have to get something a lot larger than a 21mm objective lens--try 50 or 100mm. But that'll run you hundreds of dollars and a lot heavier. This could fit awkwardly into a shirt pocket. The image will get a little darker as you zoom it in, but the closest focus distance of about 10 feet seems to work at any magnification setting, which is nice.

The Bad:
The strap is short--usually people like to put these things around their necks, but that will not be possible with this hand-sized strap. The picture quality is great for a blind person, but if you are a picky person or somebody looking for a top-notch unit, then you won't even be reading this. Also, I will not use this for many operations because I need the real close focus of about 12 inches, and this gets only as close as 10 feet. And as I said, the focus and zoom are hard to manipulate with a single hand, so you'll need a free hand to make things easier.

Overall:
A good inezpensive buy. Nice for the car or backpack, but not for stargazing as the objective lens is too small. If you're in the market for an inexpensive, small, yet powerful monocular or binocular, I'd recommend the CARSON 20-80x25 zoom binocular. Somobody stole my pair (who steals from the blind!), but I loved those for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra when I saw Yo-Yo-Ma there in 2005. Also, find a tiny tripod to make your life easier in those situations.

By: A. Wu

A. Wu — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 20:58:47 +0000

Review by A. Wu for Brunton Echo 10-30x21 Zoom Monocular Rating: I've had this monocular scope for a few weeks now. I haven't been able to find any reviews on this monocular. I'm guessing that it is either too new for any extensive reviews, or this product was a failure, and its on the way out.

In either case, I'll provide maybe the 1st review I've seen anywhere.

Pros: Great optical clarity. Zoom is a very useful function, especially with a portable optical scope. The eye relief is much much better than most others out there, (yeah, what eye relief right?). People wearing glasses will be able to enjoy this scope, and it works equally well when viewed directly pressed against your eyes. The Bak-4 Prism as well as the multi-coated lenses produces awesome clarity. Unlike many junkyard ocular scopes out there, the multi-coated lenses on the Echo Zoom do not impede light transmission. Many cheap "ruby" coated scopes significantly reduce light transmission and cloud optical clarity, but NOT THIS ONE !!

Cons: This is my first brunton scope. Though I'm happy with the optical characteristics of this scope, the INSIDE is a different story. The scope is assembled very poorly. Many of the threads are worn out. This makes disassembling and assembling the scope impossible. The grooves on the threads were stripped, and the prism itself has a slight blemish. The glue used to assemble this multi-part prism had some overspray that's permanently blemished on one part of the prism. Though this does not impede viewing or clarity, it certainly speaks numbers about Quality Control. The Zoom seemed to be put together hastily and poorly. I had to open the scope twice to remove plastic shavings on the inside of the objective lens (the one opposite the viewing lens) and manually clear out the leftover plastic debris from the stripped threads.

This scope is characteristic of some of the junk coming out of crappy manufactures. You get what you pay for.

Bottom line: For the price, the ZOOM is worth more than I paid. Don't be surprised if you have to open it up at least once to clean out all the plastic debris on the inside. Otherwise, I love it!

Hope this helped.

Keep in mind, there's also the Original Brunton ECHO, which has no zoom function, but its an established product and is equal in quality if not better to the Echo ZOOM (current item).