I am in the market for a pair of compact binoculars for backpacking and bicycle touring. As an eyeglass wearer in a wet climate, I find weatherproofing and long eye relief important.
On paper (or Web site), the Brunton Eterna 8x25 appears to have the features I am looking for at an agreeable price. Does anyone here have any experience with this model?
I have not used their compacts but, Brunton makes pretty decent optics. I used to have a porro prism 10x50 LiteTech and my dad has owned a porro prism 7x40 Eterna for some time now. They're both pretty decent with the Eterna being the clearly superior binocular. Their older Eterna roofs were pretty bulky, more so even than most porros but, they did have decent glass. Brunton's real drawback is just that they tend to overprice their optics. This is especially true in the Epoch line, which is priced ridiculously high (both for the full-size and the compacts.) The current full-size Eternas (which have been redisigned with a much more acceptable size & shape) are also overpriced but, not to the same degree as the Epochs. The compact Eternas usually sell for around $250 and that's not too bad.
Before you buy, you may also want to look at the 9x25 Bushnell Legend, the 10x28 Cabela's Alaskan Guide, or the 8x/10x28 Pentax DCF MP, all of which might prove better choices for the same general price.