***Steiner 10x26 Predator Pro or Steiner 10x26 Predator Pro - Which one is better??? (1 Viewer)

[nbx]

***Steiner 8x22 Predator Pro or Steiner 10x26 Predator Pro - Which one is better???

Hi. I am looking for a rugged compact light weight binocular under $200.

Which one is better: Steiner 10x26 Predator Pro or Steiner 10x26 Predator Pro? I would like to hear from owners of these products. Is the 10x26 harder to keep steady? Is the 8x22 too narrow field of vision?

Steiner 10x26 Predator Pro:

http://www.steiner-binoculars.com/binoculars/predator/226.html


Steiner 8x22 Predator Pro:

http://www.steiner-binoculars.com/binoculars/predator/222.html

 

[ceasar]

If you wear glasses, you probably won't like either one. They both have very short eye relief. Other than that, I'd get the 8 x 22 because it has a nice wide field for a mini binocular and will be easier to hold steady than a 10X. If you will be using them for hunting, steadiness is more important than power.

Welcome to Bird Forum,

Bob

 

[nbx]

Steiner 8x22 Predator Pro eye relief is 10mm. What is a good eye relief for eyeglass wearers?

 

[Tero]

I was looking for similar ones myself, but I was more impressed with 8x30 and 10x30 formats. Steiner has one
http://www.opticsplanet.net/leica-10x32-bn-black-binoculars.html
However, you can get wider FOV with say a Pentax. Prices are a bit higher. The Steiners are not "quick" binoculars to me, as it takes a fraction of a second longer to bring it to your eyes and look into the rather small eye cups.

I can recommend 8x25 reverse porros from Nikon:
http://www.opticsplanet.net/nikon-8x25-prostaff-wp-binoculars.html

Water proof and they give you a big binocular feel. FOV is less than the 8x22 Steiner, but they are brighter.

If size or weight is not a big concern, one of the best values is Nikon Sporter 8x36 for under 200 dollars, Google it.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Nikon+Sporter+8x36&btnG=Google+Search

 

[ceasar]

Steiner 8x22 Predator Pro eye relief is 10mm. What is a good eye relief for eyeglass wearers?

15mm is generally regarded as minimal eye relief for use with glasses. 17mm or more is much better. 10mm is WAY too short. You won't see 1/2 the field of view!

By the way, for about 50 bucks more you can get what is regarded by many as the best small binocular made. It's a bit larger than compact but easily fits into a jacket pocket or bellows shirt pocket. It's the Bushnell 7 x 26 Custom Reverse Porro Prism. 363' FOV, slightly short Eye Relief at about 14 0r 15mm. Very sturdily built. I have one, it's great!

Bob

 

[nbx]

I wear glasses. What's the eye relief on the Steiner 10x26 Predator Pro? The Steiner 8x22 Predator Pro has eye relief of only 10mm so these will be a problem. What about the 10x26?

 

[Tero]

You will have to try the Steiners, but because of the shape of they eye cups, to cut off stray light from side, I bet they will not work with glasses. Best to find a store anyway, for any glasses wearer, as you don't want to buy any item mail order that you have not tried out.

 

[ksbird/foxranch]

You will have to try the Steiners, but because of the shape of they eye cups, to cut off stray light from side, I bet they will not work with glasses. Best to find a store anyway, for any glasses wearer, as you don't want to buy any item mail order that you have not tried out.

We use the 10x26 here at the ranch and one regular visitor has the 8.5x26s. The 10x26 is very sharp and the image is very high contrast. The eye cup seems to be in the way for eyeglasses on first look, but it's such a tiny butterfly wing (not at all like the SARD wings or Vuarnet sunglass side covers), so in reality the tiny eyecup wing flare doesn't affect the eyeglasses because almost all eyeglasses curve back more towards the ear, more than the Steiner 10x26 eyecup side flare curves back.

The good qualities aside, the eye lens is a bit small if you use eyeglasses and the eye relief is a bit short considering how small the eye lens is. Some binocular manufacturers have the philosophy that you shouldn't be totally touching the eye lens end of the binocular when you look through it. Steiner believes otherwise. They feel that binoculars are mostly personal and no one else will be using a person's binocs except the owner. So Steiner makes binocs that work well when you are completely touching the eye lens end of the binocular. I don't wear eyeglasses for birding so this philosophy works fine for me, but eyeglass wearers should be careful buying any Steiner binocular with a small eye lens (this means the 8x30 and 7x50 and 8x56 etc are great, but the 10x26 and 8x32 Merlin are not so great for eyeglass users although I have seen some people usng them with eyeglasses anyway, so what do I know???).

I have a very wide interpupillary eye width and at full width the Steiner 10x26 goes my full 76mm, which is pretty amazing. But for narrower eye spacing some people complain that the binocular doesn't work as well for them curling both sides down towards each other and the focus feels "odd" when they curl down only one side. Zeiss made a binocular where only one side could rotate down to change the interpupillary spread and people familiar with that binoc seem to adore the 10x26 Steiner. For a binoc with such a sharp, bright view, high contrast and relatively wide FOV it is cheap, regularly selling in the USA for US$99. They even mass market this binoc. I normally dislike this style of twin-tube mini roof prism binoc, but this is one I can stand. You definitely should try looking through a pair in person though, before you make a decision on it.

 

[Tero]

I was just reading some specs...not buying anything more this month, next YEAR maybe...and it struck me that many Steiners are not phase coated. Like
http://www.opticsplanet.net/steiner-10x26-merlin-binoculars.html
Is that right?

I have never been impressed by the small end Steiners I have seen.