I admit it; I am a compact binocular fan, so when I heard we were adding Brunton to our line of binoculars, I was naturally eager to give the Brunton Epoch 10x25. It's priced like a Swarovski and Leica, but would it perform like those ultimate compacts?

Optically I had no complaints. Edge definition was very good as was resolution. Image brightness and contrast were a bit behind the Leica and Swarovski and the published eye relief of 15mm was more like 13mm in actual use. Okay, I could live with that.

What I could not live with was the design of the focusing knob. It is entirely too small, too slippery and recessed far too deeply within the frame. It made it impossible to focus with one finger. The only way to operate it was with one finger above and below the knob. No way could you ever wear gloves when using this binocular. For this kind of money, you should get more. Hopefully Brunton will address in some future redesign.