kevlar88
Lil-Rokslider
I was the lucky winner of the recent Camerland drawing for a pair of 10x42 Steiner binos. At first I thought it was some sort of scam because I don’t think I’ve ever won a drawing before in my life. After quickly realizing it was Doug from Cameraland and this was in fact for real I was on cloud nine.
Let me start by saying I really don’t like Glocks, or any other polymer famed pistol for that matter. Yes, I know they are proven performers bit I much prefer the feel of alloy frames. What does that have to do with the HX series of binoculars? They also have a plastic barrels and I wasn’t too happy to see this while reading through the spec sheet. But, once the binos arrived and had them in my hands all worries of the plastic bodies went away. There would be no way to know they had plastic barrels through the thick rubber armor. Steiner claims this cuts weight, are much more durable and won’t crack, bend or dent like some alloys can. Time will tell as I don’t plan on putting them through a torture test to failure but at the same time a lot of my gear has a pretty rough life and does not get pampered.
The glass is fantastic. I’m not a glass snob, although I probably would be if I had a little deeper pocks to play the game as my eyes can see the difference in higher end glass. I’ve been hunting with a pair of old Leupold BX-2’s for the past decade and they have done a fine job as I don’t feel like I’ve ever missed an opportunity on game because of them but the HX’s are in a whole different class, albeit they are also in a different price class. Although I’ve never owner any higher end binos I do have some friends here in Germany that do. Just yesterday while Roe deer hunting I was able to compare them side by side with both a pair of Leica Trinovid and Zeiss Victory RF. To my eyes the Steiner’s were every bit as good as the Leica glass and while being just behind the Victory (but once again another price class). Side note, the built in range finder on the Zeiss binos is pretty stinking cool. I also have a friend here who uses a pair of Swaro SLC’s that I’ve played with but I’ll have to wait for another day to get a side by side comparison on those.
Now, please bear with me as I attempt to get a little more technical. As far as chromatic aberration goes, I haven’t seen the slightest hint of it. We have a couple black and white horses that stay behind the house at about 200 yards and the high contrast from black to white is extremely crisp and clear. I did notice some veiling glare while looking east into a tree lines shadows with a rising sun. This was fairly easily alleviated by re-positioning my eye behind the binos, not ideal but easily fixed. I’d venture to say some other high end optics would struggle as well given the situation but unfortunately can’t confirm this as I didn’t have any others in hand.
The fast focus dial on the HX’s is awesome! It takes some getting used to but once you are you can adjust your focus from 20 yards to 200 yards in about 1/16th of a rotation of the dial. Getting behind these binos also took some getting used to. They didn’t raise to the eye as naturally as the Zeiss or Leica. Perhaps the eye pieces of these two are just closer to what I’ve been using for the past 10 years. The best I can describe the HX’s is like getting behind a scope with a tight eye box on high magnification. Every time I raise them to my face this becomes less of an issue and once you find the sweet spot it is easy to stay in. This was just an initial impression that took some getting used to, I’ve only had them one week and already don’t notice this as an issue any more.
To say the least these are one heck of an upgade over the old BX-2’s. If I missed anything just let me know and I’ll try to answer any questions. It should be noted that my experience is limited so you can take this info with a grain or two of salt.
Lastly, as many of you already know, the guys over at Cameraland are top notch. No, I’m not just saying this because I was the lucky winner of their drawing. About a month ago I ordered a range finder from them as my old one crapped out just before my trip to Spain for Ibex. They did what they do and got it to me just in time. I’d like to say that they went above and beyond just for me but I get the distinct impression that they have the same level of service for every single customer on every single order. Thanks again Doug and Joel.
Let me start by saying I really don’t like Glocks, or any other polymer famed pistol for that matter. Yes, I know they are proven performers bit I much prefer the feel of alloy frames. What does that have to do with the HX series of binoculars? They also have a plastic barrels and I wasn’t too happy to see this while reading through the spec sheet. But, once the binos arrived and had them in my hands all worries of the plastic bodies went away. There would be no way to know they had plastic barrels through the thick rubber armor. Steiner claims this cuts weight, are much more durable and won’t crack, bend or dent like some alloys can. Time will tell as I don’t plan on putting them through a torture test to failure but at the same time a lot of my gear has a pretty rough life and does not get pampered.
The glass is fantastic. I’m not a glass snob, although I probably would be if I had a little deeper pocks to play the game as my eyes can see the difference in higher end glass. I’ve been hunting with a pair of old Leupold BX-2’s for the past decade and they have done a fine job as I don’t feel like I’ve ever missed an opportunity on game because of them but the HX’s are in a whole different class, albeit they are also in a different price class. Although I’ve never owner any higher end binos I do have some friends here in Germany that do. Just yesterday while Roe deer hunting I was able to compare them side by side with both a pair of Leica Trinovid and Zeiss Victory RF. To my eyes the Steiner’s were every bit as good as the Leica glass and while being just behind the Victory (but once again another price class). Side note, the built in range finder on the Zeiss binos is pretty stinking cool. I also have a friend here who uses a pair of Swaro SLC’s that I’ve played with but I’ll have to wait for another day to get a side by side comparison on those.
Now, please bear with me as I attempt to get a little more technical. As far as chromatic aberration goes, I haven’t seen the slightest hint of it. We have a couple black and white horses that stay behind the house at about 200 yards and the high contrast from black to white is extremely crisp and clear. I did notice some veiling glare while looking east into a tree lines shadows with a rising sun. This was fairly easily alleviated by re-positioning my eye behind the binos, not ideal but easily fixed. I’d venture to say some other high end optics would struggle as well given the situation but unfortunately can’t confirm this as I didn’t have any others in hand.
The fast focus dial on the HX’s is awesome! It takes some getting used to but once you are you can adjust your focus from 20 yards to 200 yards in about 1/16th of a rotation of the dial. Getting behind these binos also took some getting used to. They didn’t raise to the eye as naturally as the Zeiss or Leica. Perhaps the eye pieces of these two are just closer to what I’ve been using for the past 10 years. The best I can describe the HX’s is like getting behind a scope with a tight eye box on high magnification. Every time I raise them to my face this becomes less of an issue and once you find the sweet spot it is easy to stay in. This was just an initial impression that took some getting used to, I’ve only had them one week and already don’t notice this as an issue any more.
To say the least these are one heck of an upgade over the old BX-2’s. If I missed anything just let me know and I’ll try to answer any questions. It should be noted that my experience is limited so you can take this info with a grain or two of salt.
Lastly, as many of you already know, the guys over at Cameraland are top notch. No, I’m not just saying this because I was the lucky winner of their drawing. About a month ago I ordered a range finder from them as my old one crapped out just before my trip to Spain for Ibex. They did what they do and got it to me just in time. I’d like to say that they went above and beyond just for me but I get the distinct impression that they have the same level of service for every single customer on every single order. Thanks again Doug and Joel.
