Customer Reviews

Brunton Echo 10-30x21 Zoom Monocular

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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).

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.

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.

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.

I have happily owned the smaller Brunton Echo 7x18 for a few years, so when this one came out, I was ready to step up to a more powerful version of the Echo. The 10-30x21 version is slightly longer and heavier than the 7x18, which is to be expected. I'm OK with that, as this one is still pretty lightweight. As many before me have said, this is a pretty good 10x21, but the zoom part is almost worthless. I wish Brunton had just offered us a plain 10x21 or 10x25 with no zoom, that is lighter and brighter than this one, and kept the nice one foot minimum focus that the 8x17 has. I hope Brunton reads these reviews, because I for one, would buy such a monocular. Please make one just like the 7x18 Echo with a little extra power.

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

The focus is very difficult to attain and maintain when magnification
exceeds 20. At the lower settings of about 10 to 20x it works great.

If you are considering this monocular, it's likely because of the zoom feature - that's why I bought mine. Unfortunately, resolution at settings above 10x magnification is abysmal, so the scope is essentially unusable at anything but the lowest (10x) setting. And I don't think that I'm simply expecting too much from a cheap scope; resolution at the upper half of the magnification range is on a par with what you'd get from a toy telescope with plastic lenses! Image quality at 10x magnification is OK, about what you'd expect from an inexpensive scope. On top of all that, the scope is fairly large. So what's the point?

I recently bought a cheap pair of Bushnell 8x21 binoculars to keep in the car. They're only a bit bulkier than this monocular, little if any heavier, the optical quality is MUCH better, and I paid less than 1/3 as much as I did for the Brunton monocular.

This product is about what I expected for the price. The function seems fine, but a zoom of 10-30 power really requires a lot of light to see. The 21mm lens provides adequate light at 10 power, but there is insufficient light on a cloudy day for the view to be useful at 30 power. This may be okay for bright sunny days, but for lower light, spend the money to get a bigger lens.

As a geologist, the ability to observe details across a 200' ravines/gorges without actually crossing saves time and keeps your boots dry. The Brunton Echo is a solid value priced instrument for those looking for light weight and decent optics.

The Good:

The 10x-30x magnification allows you to zoom into a stationary object. The field of view shrinks dramatically at 30x, so moving objects would be tough to locate/maintain in FOV.

Its lightweight at 3.3 oz and easily fits into side pockets.

The coated BaK-4 Prism Glass Lenses are a good feature for the price.

The tripod/monopod mounting feature is another plus for making field observations. I was able to use the same staff that mounts my compass.

The "Could Be Better":

The lanyard would be better if it was large enough to fit over the neck. I have little use for a bracelet style lanyard.

The end caps are another slight negative. They only include the eyepiece cover and it can be a challenge to keep from losing.

Overall, good value for the money with some well-thought out features.