steiner binoculars

chrisdolan11

anyone any experience of the steiner binoculars. am looking at the pro rangers but cant seem to get any reviews. at the 500 euro price range any other suggestions appreciated

Traumadoc

I would fork out an extra 300 for a pair of Zeiss.

sako75 hunter

Hi, i have been using steiner ranger pro 8x42 for the last two seasons and find them brilliant. i payed in or around the 500 mark also and there worth every pennie. very sturdy and brilliant at low light. my shooting buddy loves using them, pity he wouldnt f**k of and buy a pair for himself. He has an oldish pair of zeiss 8x32. the steiners are much better. hope that helps...

deerhunter1

chrisdolan11 wrote: »

anyone any experience of the steiner binoculars. am looking at the pro rangers but cant seem to get any reviews. at the 500 euro price range any other suggestions appreciated

super binos for their money,had them in 10x42 and 8x50 brilliant glass especially in low light. highly recommend them, as good as the high end binos

chrisdolan11

thanks for the info guys. I was looking at leica zeiss and swaro but at all over 1000 plus couldnt justify the money versus use. so seen these in a shooting magazine and they got a shooting industry award 2010 so cant be bad but i like real guys who use or have used them. thanks for the info it greatly helps cant beat guys that use them for their sport and the sport we all love. have to say the info i pick up with u guys is top drawer everyone is so keen to be helpfull part of the many things i love about shooting the comradarory.

chrisdolan11

oh forgot to mention whats ur preference 8x or 10x for general spotting purposes are the 10x that much less steady and worth it for the extra 2x versus light gatering ability. i know everone has personal preference just interested to hear.

It wasn't me!

Have a look at Kaps Optik. I got them from ejg on here. Think mine were about 435 euro, 8x42, and they're phenomenal. Similar clarity to my S&B at 8x.

rowa

Have a look at minox too , their lenses are made by leica but their prices aren't.

Tackleberrywho

chrisdolan11 wrote: »

oh forgot to mention whats ur preference 8x or 10x for general spotting purposes are the 10x that much less steady and worth it for the extra 2x versus light gatering ability. i know everone has personal preference just interested to hear.

+1
Hard choice.

I was waiting for a few deer last night and with the rain, the highest mag I could use was 8x at 1/4 past eight. Yet at Dusk I had scope on 20 power

triskell

chrisdolan11 wrote: »

anyone any experience of the steiner binoculars. am looking at the pro rangers but cant seem to get any reviews. at the 500 euro price range any other suggestions appreciated

Highly recommended I've been using same pair for last 10 years, never let me down they have taken savage abuse, drowned in a couple of bog holes. I've even driven over them don't ask (using my parka under rear wheel of cruiser to get out of soft spot), guess what was in poachers pocket) they are the 8x50 military marine version.
As to customer service. I had first pair about 6 months when the pup ate the eye cups. I contacted steiner over replacements I told them the true story and their response was, send them back and we will sort it. They did by sending me brand new set which I still have.
I have compared them side by side with swars. the swars were brighter but not by much. For me not enough to justify the extra expensive.

sako75 hunter

And with the 300 quid your guna save you can buy a new stalking suit

De_Tomaso

In this class of 500€ binos I think there are three really good choices. Hawke Frontier ED 8x43 (new model comming in one month), Steiner Ranger Pro 8x42, Minox BL 8x44 and Vortex Viper HD 8x42.

Optically they are very similar and it is hard to say which one is the winner. I personally would rate Vortex on top but it has smaller field of view than other competitors. It is also the only the only of these three made in the developed world (it is made in Japan), so the build quality is one class above Frontier ED (made in China), Minox BL (made in China) and Ranger Pro (It is impossible to find were Rangers are made, probably Asia).

So in general I would recommend each scope for the following reasons:

Ranger Pro if you want really robust and well rubber cushioned scope. There neck strap is also nice and if you don't use glasses the soft oculars with side plates are nice.

Hawke Frontier ED if you want open bridge scope and widest field of view. It is longer then others and build quality is a little behind Ranger and substantially behind Viper HD.

Minox BL is very similar to Frontier ED only the finish is a little nicer (in my opinion) and optically it is only marginally worse. In the example I tested, CA (purple fringing) was a little more noticeable, but nothing really worrying.

Viper HD definitely if you use glasses since oculars are much better than others. Build quality is also much higher and optically it is great for this price class. Down side is that it has a little small field of view.


But if I were shopping in this class I would probably try to get to the 900€ limit and buy really great Minox HG or Zeiss Conquest. I know that this is almost 100% more in price but in most cases people buy this kind of optics every 10 years or so. If you divide this amount to ten years I does not look so big anymore.

Deerspotter

You cannot go wrong with Steiner - I think they stand beside Leica and Zeiss and Swaro very well.

sako75 hunter

Steiner are a German company, as far as i know there binos are manufactured there also. You cant beat the Germans for engineering.:D

syconerd

hiya i have these for sale at the moment

http://www.steiner.de/en/binoculars/birdwatching/skyhawk-pro-10x42.php

if your interested im letting them go at 350 euros as im not really using them as i have a pair of zeiss myself so let us know

i know they say their used for bird watching but i bought them and find them brill to use for hunting

at the time i bought them i just wanted a decent pair of binos and these are as clear as the zeiss but a lot cheaper

ok contact me if ya want to take a look haha at them im in dublin

john

4gun

I have a pair of steiner, they're as good as you get for the money you pay
mine have a coating to make reds and brown colours stand out, auto focus so once you tune it to your eyes you dont have to ajust them to look at near or far away objects

Tackleberrywho

4gun wrote: »

I have a pair of steiner, they're as good as you get for the money you pay
mine have a coating to make reds and brown colours stand out, auto focus so once you tune it to your eyes you dont have to ajust them to look at near or far away objects

Are they the ones you were wearing in Killarney with the Playtex type strap

4gun

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Are they the ones you were wearing in Killarney with the Playtex type strap

yup, gives great support

Mountainy Jack

For that kind of money you could pick up a pair of Zeiss bgats 7x42 second hand. Unreal binoculars, top quality and bullet proof.

tfox

Mountainy Jack wrote: »

For that kind of money you could pick up a pair of Zeiss bgats 7x42 second hand. Unreal binoculars, top quality and bullet proof.

Thats what I have, my cousin won a pair of swarovski bino's in a BDS draw and gave me his old Zeiss

great binos and very durable and hardy !!

kieran1141

Have a pair of minox bl 8x56 br around 500e, my mate gave 1300e for swarovski 7x50 slc and in low light he says the minox could be a tad better than his, at 7.45 tonight i was watching 8 deer and could tell there was 3 prickets but schmidt & bender (german) 8x56 scope on i could not take the shot. great binoculars for the money. i am told steiner are class binos aswell.