Stump_MN_Hunter

I'm looking at getting a pair of Steiner Predator 8x30's for on stand hunting. Any of you fellas have these? What do you think of them?

Dusty Britches

I have a pair of discontinued Steiners. I love to use them, but they are a bit heavy. I'd put them on a stand, if I wasn't planning any type of stalks later. I bought a compact pair of Bruntons last year and use them exclusively for 3D and hunting, because I like to stalk.

Stump_MN_Hunter

I know they might be alittle overkill for strictly stand hunting, but with the lack of funds...I want to get a pair of binos that are a little bit all purpose. I should have stated this in my original post. I like the fact that they are pretty much auto focused binos once you get the eye pieces focused into each one of your eyes.

shed33

Stump,

Would you consider another brand????? If so, I tested the Steiners comparible in price and magnification with the Wind River 10x40 Leupolds. I ended up going with the Leupolds based on cost and similiar performance I found the Leupolds to be every bit as clear and cheaper.
I really like this binoc, they have worked great for the past 3 years. I use them to stand hunt, spot and stalk, and glass from long distances. Elk, bear, deer, turks... etc.. they are a very versitale binoc. 1 extra I may add, for 19.95 at walmart you can pick up the "bino system" man this works great for packing your binocs around your neck. They really hold the binoc in place reducing sway and noise and are easy to use when you need to pick up that binoc and take a peek.


Shed

BobCo19-65

For me - none at all. I never felt any benefit for carring bino's while stand hunting for whitetail.

ijimmy

Im with shed , Ive got a set of 8x32 windriver olimpics , allmost as good as swearofskys , for around $200 . I looked thru alot of binos at basspro before deciding , stiner were some of the worst I loked thru , IMO

SEE disclaimer below

justhrowit

I'm with Shed on this one too. I looked pretty extensively for a good pair of binos. I ended up with the Wind River Leupolds 8X42 and couldn't have been happier. So far I have only used them for stand hunting. Before that I was using a $15 pair from walmart. These are obviously better. I've compared them to the steiners, Nikon, and a few others. Great glass hands down.

Jay

Kelly/KY

If I'm not mistaken, those are the collapsable?? Anyway, I'm very partial to Steiner. I have a pair of Preator 10X42, which I love, but are a little bulky for stand hunting. I also have a lighter, folding pair of I think 8X30, which are perfect for the stand. Very light, clear image and good focus. Great choice.

Kelly

Matt / PA

I can't remember what model they were, but the last pair of Steiner binocs I looked thru was last season........the guy who owned them was might proud of them but when i looked thru them I couldn't believe how poor the image was. [:'(] No kidding it was like looking through dirty dishwater combined with a small field of view. I remember him saying...."Really nice huh?" ........uh yeah.
I wish I knew what model they were, but they were the green rubber armored style.
I was afraid to hand him my Pentax DCF-SP's.

Not sure what was going on there but he was raving about them........so it always makes me wonder about optics and people's perception.

I think the perfect whitetail hunting binos if you don't have the big $$ is one of the few really good pairs of full sized roof prism binos that are waterproof and have high quality phase coated/cerrected prisms in an 8X42. You need a good sized objective diameter for when they will benefit you the most........LOW LIGHT. There isn't a compact pair of binos that I have ever seen that will gather similar light.

Nikon Monarch
Bushnell Legend
Pentax DCF-WP

Unless you live behind your binoculars, these are the last ones you'll ever need for whitetail hunting. Ad a Bino-Buddy system and your set.

just my ever humble opinion.

davidmil

If you're going to buy some binos.. you should really get away from the compacts and get into something that'll offer you better low light visibility, better focal planes and a lot less eye strain.

Spoke like a man whos never looked through good glass and bad glass side by side at first or last light. There simply isn't a pair of binos for $200 that'll come close to a good set of Swarovskis. But again... if you're looking through "X" by 30... none of them are good in low light.

I won't go into all the why and where fores of low light viewing, eye dialiation, exit lens/objective lens/power etc... but it's a know "Trueism". The most efficient viewing for the human eye is a pair of 7 x 50s or some other combination that gives you a ratio of eye to objective lens of 7. The lower the worse they are for you. Above a factor of 7 is wasted as the human eye can't dialiate and utilize anymore. Then you throw in more magnification and and smaller objective lenses... well it's going down hill from their. You have to decide which is more important... big power and less low light viewing or maybe a trade off. In my case I went with a set of 7 x 42s. Factor of 6, decent magnification for my whitetail woods and still good low light viewing and no eye strain if viewing for long periods.

Then you throw in Glass Quality itself. They are different. Glass is the one thing in life you basically get what you pay for.

To those who say they'd never carry a set of binos into a tree. Man, are you missing out on a lot of deer and details. I do a lot of scouting while sitting in a tree with my binos. I often pick out deer and patterns from 100 or 200 yards away... just finding a hole in the woods to peak through. Places you'd NEVER see a deer without the binos.