Whats your thoughts on the Steiner merlin 8 X 42 bino's ? looking for a pair of bino's for around 500.00 . for bowhunting in Penna. woods and field edges. And hopefully a muley or an elk hunt in a western state someday. I spend alot of time afield each year. For various game ie. squirrels , pheasent , turkey , and deer but I can't see spending 1,000 or 1,500 or more on bino's I'm almost 40 years old, and made do with a cheep pair up to this point . Any thoughts ?

I purchased a pair of Steiner Nighthunter XP 8x30mm binoculars earlier this year. Exceptional clarity and excellent in low light conditions looking into dark places where critters hide. In my case, two wild boars hiding under a mulga tree near a tank early evening after sunset. I really like the auto focus too.

I checked them out and found them to be pretty darn good for the money. I did like the perigrines better but they are over 8 bills. I think the only weak point of steiner may be warranty (only 25 years instaed of lifetime) and durabilty. But the glass is good.
You should check out the Docter optic 8x42. Made in germany and EXCELLENT. Docter used to be the East German Zeiss factory. Cabela's has them. I was also very impressed with the Cabela's Alaskan guide roof prisms. They are also about 5 bills and I could find nothing wrong with them for the money. I believe they are made by Fujinon in Japan. Stll the Merlins are good! I am juust really impressed with docter for the money. Check out this link of a german optics engineer and his review of the Docter 10x42's There is more good info on this site too.
http://www.holgermerlitz.de/dialyt10x40.html
okcmco

Lastweek we got in the 8x32 and 10x42 Merlins. I picked up the 10xs and WOW I believe I have a new favorite all around pair of binocs (was the 10x Monarchs). Perfect weight, size and the clarity and detail were SUPERB!!! Our store is atop a hill and overlooks a busy area of town. About 1k yards down the street is a bank with 4 drive thru lanes. With the 10s I could read the small white lit "OPEN" signs above each lane. A Lowes is over a mile away and completely on the opposite side of I-40 from us. We could read the entire sign and all the letters below the logo (lol does anyone actually even know there WAS such wording?). The 8s were nothing to get excited about, just a "decent" pair. But man the 10s were to die for.

I havepair of 9x40 Bighorn Steiners that I use in the woods. They are great binos (they are porros) but they are in danger of being retired for these Merlins. I wouldn't worry about the lifetime warranty vs a 25year from Steiner. Steiner is THE largest European binocular maker in the industry and isn't about to let a customer down. As for the Doctor, I just can't say that I was impressed with ANYTHING of theirs. Sure they may be in an old Zeiss factory. But that doesn't mean they are Zeiss quality. I could build Yugos in a former Lexus facility but that wouldn't mean anything unless some quality labor and machining was used. The optical quality of Doctor is below VX1 and Prostaff IMHO. The images were fuzzy anywhere other than DEADCENTER of the view. That's another thing I liked about the Merlins, the image quality out on the side of the view was just as crystal clear and sharp as the center. THAT is the true measure of great optics. I honestly think that Meopta is MUCH BETTER with respect too mid-level priced optics than Doctor. I was playing with a R1 3x12x56 Meopta the other day and it was hands down better than the equal sized Doctor I was shown by a rep lastyear.

Good luck,
RA

Red. I was talking about the Docter optic roof prism binoculars, not the scopes. But I have a scope too. I found the docter binos better than anything in the 500 buck range. Actually I bought the docter 3-9x40 rifle scope by comparing it to the Leupold Vari-x 2 of the same size. It was brighter and clearer than the Vari-x 2 And I just compared it to a friend's VX3. Even the owner of the VX3 admitted it was at least equal.
For all intents and purposes, the Zeiss factory on the east side of the wall (now docter) was always a zeiss factory. When they were marketed in this country or other western countries, they had to change thier name due to lisencing laws. So that is why you see them as Carl Zeiss Jena and Aus Jenna. After the fall of the berlin wall, They became Docter. So you might say that thier technology was more or less equal to the "Free" Zeiss factory on the other side up until taht time. The Docter Nobilem series and the EDF 7x40 are still considered some of the best binocs ever made. And we are talking 20 years later. These are all made before the fall of the wall. Possibly the Docter R and D dept may not have kept up with zeiss after the fall. True they are not the equal of the zeiss victory FL2 or the Swarovski EL, but they are one third the price. I admit that they are using zeiss' T3 Coatings where as Zeiss is has upgraded to the Zeiss T4 coatings. And they get thier glass from the same german plant (Schott glasswerk I think). Leupold's glass comes from CHINA!
I think you may have looked at a docter scope that had been dropped on on it's way from germany! Or maybe I have a couple of exceptional Docter peices!
I do agree with you on the Meopta stuff. Thier spotting scopes and binocs are out of this world and are very reasonably priced. Haven't looked through one of the rifle scopes yet.
regards
okcmco

PS RED. How much are the Meopta scopes going for?
It might be interesting to do a "side by side" coparison instead of looking through them at different times the way you did with the meopta and docter. My purchases were done after doing long side by sides. I was all set on a conquest or a leupold until I got ahold of the docter and looked through it as well.
Oh well opinions are like.... so I'll shut up now
okcmco

okm the Meopta scopes we have are a 2000 series 3x12x50 (30mm tube) that is $499. The other two we just got in lastweek I believe are the R2 series. One was a 4x14x44 (or was it 16? My CRS is terminal), I wasn't impressed with them. The 3x12x56 BLEW me away tho. They were AWESOME. All of these scopes are 30mm tubes and the R2 series scopes were under $600.

Leupold gets their glass from the Phillipenes and I can't say for sure but I would bet it is from the same supplier that Nikon uses on their non Japanese mfgrd scopes. As much as I hate to admit it, the old gray mare (Leupold) aint anything near what they used to be. Especially with the prices of their VXIII scopes. There are MANY better optics on the market in that price range (and in the case of the Conquest and Monarch, better for less!)


RA

Red. Maybe the old grey mare (leupold) is what it used to be but everyone else has stepped up to the plate and moved ahead. Look at nikon! Heck, look at the new simmons! And 5 years ago, who would have thought that you could get a zeiss for 429.99? I have buddies who long for the days of the Lyman alaskan and El Paso weaver k4. But even the cheap optics of today beat the top of ther line optics of 30 years ago.
Thanks for the info on the artemis scopes. And for the info on the phillipine glass for leupold (actually I believe simmons gets thiers from the same source.)
okcmco