Binoculars, Stiener vs Leupold Options

[cwing]

Guys I need some help. I'm in the market for a pair of good binoculars. I've narrowed it down to the Stiener 10x50 Police ($399), or Leupold Olympic 12x50 also about $399. Anyone have any experience with either of these and could make a suggestion.
Thanks,

[Jupiter]

I have a pair of Steiner Tactical 10x42's and I wouldn't trade em' for anything except MAYBE a pair of Vortex Razor HD's or Vortex Kaibob HD's.

The Vortex's are the only one's that I have found where the glass was as good as my Steiners but they are also more expensive.

[Flea]

The Steiners are great. Also, look at the Minox. Minox is part of Leica and some of the best glass I've looked through. You folks should also take a look at the Steiner LRF. I saw one a few weeks ago. I was ranging non-reflective target out past 2200 yards. Outstanding piece of gear..

[paramil]

I have a pair of Steiner Tactical 10x42's and I wouldn't trade em' for anything

X2, they are great glass.

[supertool73]

I have a pair of Leica Geovids HDs. Excellent glass on those, every time I look through them I am wowed. I also have a pair of Meopta Meostars, they are also excellent. In all honestly there is not much difference between the Leicas and the Meoptas.

Really with some of the quality optics out these days unless you are willing to pay for the last 3-5% better optics there is not much of a need to pay over $1000 for binos. You can get very good ones in the $600 to $800 range. A few of the Chinese brands in the $300 to $400 range are really good as well. But they are Chinese, which makes them hard to swallow.

The only reason I was willing to spend as much as I did for the Leica's was because I wanted a RF and bino combo and the Leicas were cheaper than the Zeiss or Swaro RF binos.

[JY]

I've had a set of Stiener 6x30mm's since the 1980's when they first hit the US, still working fine and holding up to field use. I've had to replave the eye cups and objective lens covers a couple times but other than that there's bee ZERO problems. LOL, they are so old Stiener only called then 6x30mm's not fancy name like "Tactical" or Military/Marine BTW my Swarovski 8x56mm's are almost the same age a rolling along just fine. Both have been through a couple conflicts (wars) and like their old owner just keep on keepin' on.

Take care...Jim

[JPBeck]

I still use my IOR VALDADA B/GA 10x40 binoculars military-grade binos -- they haven't made them in years, they still stink like burnt rubber, but they are crystal clear, and bullet proof. We use them all time out on the deck and when we shoot out at the long range (which burnt up yesterday). I remember the days before I had kids and could afford nice toys. You might be able to find a pair used for about $500-- just a thought.

Good luck.

[Hawker]

I have the Leupold 10-50 Tactical Binos. Best $400 Binos I've ever used. Check them out. Also available with a mil reticle but I didn't want that.

[lando]

I don't know if you made a decision or not but between the two I would choose the Leopold. Or realistically another one of the steiners.

If I remember right the steiners are set up where each eye has to focus independentely. Depending on the type of observation you are doing this could be irritating. The manual on the military/police model says says set one eye piece to zero and focus the other eye and you are good from whatever distance to infinity. I did not find this to work very well for me and it gave me headaches after short periods of time. Other people with the same binocs loved them. I gave mine up and used a pair of minox 8x42's. Steiner has better models to choose from, from my perspective anyway, that would be smaller, lighter and more user friendly full size binocs. I would not worry about the durability or quality of any of their products just because it is not the military or police models.

Lando

[lee375]

what ever looks best to u.......its win win w/the 2 brands.......used both...favor the Steiner's though...course they were issued....lol