I really WANT to love Steiners...
I love anything German, and I adore the "military-tough" look of Steiners. I loved them when I wasn't even "into" binoculars, when they first got popular here, and then when they got the M22 military contract.
I still used to think they were the best when I was first getting "into" binoculars, but that comparison was based on having only used cheap binoculars. I tried some at a gun store and liked them when I compared them to binocs half their price or less.
All that said however, when I actually look through the porros, they do NOT impress me compared to other binocs.
But later, after owning Swarovskis and other nice binocs, I tried them on a couple occasions in the store and personally felt that they had too much yellow tint, or the resolution didn't "pop" like other binocs. A store owner where I did this comparison a couple years ago even allowed me to run a "no interest-in store credit account" and offered to let me take the Steiners (one of the large hunting oriented porros) home that day... :king:
Even with that temptation I declined.
I STILL wanted to love Steiners! When the Peregrine XP came out, I wanted one so badly (but have still never gotten to look through one!)
A friend with the Highway Patrol has a pair of 10x50 Police, and told me they were the best he'd ever looked through. He's not a birder, but is known for always having the "best of the best" of anything.
I decided to order a pair, STILL wanting to like Steiners, and STILL wanting to think I just hadn't given them a fair chance. I even moved "up" to the Marine model (around $600) and placed the order. Like a kid at Christmas, I waited for the package, and when I finally got them, I was not impressed right out of the box on RESOLUTION. The field of view and brightness were good, but not resolution. I tweaked the focus settings and STILL was not impressed with resolution, in my usage of them. Although not scientific, my tests are realistic. I used them to look birds, trees, wildlife, etc.
Although they were "okay" to "pretty good" I could see more feather detail in birds, more bark detail in trees, more fur texture in deer, etc. with my Vortex Razors, Leupold Golden Ring HDs, etc.
The Steiner Marine Porros became the FIRST (an only, so far) binocs I have ever returned for credit.
Of course, this is always subjective, but this has been my personal experience...