Steiner Commander XP 7x30 (1 Viewer)

Hello,
I have reading a review of this model, and the comments are very interesting, with a good quality otic and mechanical.
Is really a good birding binocular or more for the sea trip, like Fujinon o similar bino?
Some have use this bino ? it have "autofocus" individual focus, and it is good for birding activities ?
Similatr to Nikon EII or Swaro Habicht in quality ?
Thanks for your aclarations..
Regards,
Paul

I would say the autofocus part is marketing bull hockey. That probably relies on both the lower 7x power and the porro offset to give a great depth of view which they are trying to pawn off as a Steiner exclusive feature. It is not, at least as far as I know and I have owned similar 8x30 Steiner models.

Most people will not like the individual focus for birding.

I am unable to say anything about the optics or build as I have never seen that particular model in person.

albatrosviajero said:

Is really a good birding binocular or more for the sea trip, like Fujinon o similar bino?
Some have use this bino ? it have "autofocus" individual focus, and it is good for birding activities ?
Similatr to Nikon EII or Swaro Habicht in quality ?

Paul

Click to expand...

To answer your questions in the order they are presented:

1. Better for a "sea trip".

2. Not good for birding activities. It will be very difficult to follow a quickly-moving bird as it moves in and out of your focus area, especially if the bird is fairly close. Chance are, the IF focus type will not allow you to keep up with a feeding warbler in a tree 15 feet away, even if you could focus that closely to begin with. Also, I get a lot of eyestrain while using Steiner's with the "autofocus" feature. Obviously this is individual to everyone, but you should try before you buy, if at all possible.

3. Steiner has a very good build quality, if that is what you mean. However, the optical quality does not measure up to the current Habicht. I have owned four Steiner binos, including a Peregrine XP, and none of them could match up in optical quality to other binos in their respective price categories. In fact, the Peregrine XP was not a sharp in the central area as a Zen-Ray ED2 I happened to own at the same time. All of the porro versions I have owned had very small FOV's, average to extremely bad focus wheels, and none of them would I consider to be sharp in view in the central area. I think they serve a purpose, but birding isn't one of them.

I still own one Steiner, but overall the brand has been a great disappointment to me, so I will not purchase any more.

I have the Steiner Commander 7x50 model, and it is a great piece of equipment. I am thoroughly pleased with this pair of binos. However.... As Inquisitor pointed out, the individual focus makes quick adjustment difficult. While the depth of field is impressive, the near focus on on the 7x50s is something like 33 feet. I don't know about the 7x30. Anyhow, this is not so good for birding.

Would I recommend them? Yes. But probably not as primary binos for birding.