[John Cantelo]

Steiner Discovery bins seem to have a pretty good spec, have had good reviews and extensive advertising in birding magazines (here in the UK that is). Yet they don't seem to have made any impact on the birding scene - various mainstream dealers don't even seem to stock them. Purely out of curiosity has anyone got a pair and if so what do you think?

John

[iveljay]

Tried a pair briefly once before I got handed some FL's for comparison - after that they failed to be of interest.

I do remember that they didn't feel well balanced in my hands though I had just been using a Nikon EII which are so completely different it probably wasn't a fair test.

Either way I was attracted by the advertising but it lacked that 'must own that view' buzz you get shortly before parting with cash. Its not even the money - a cheap pair of Olympus 8x25 PCIs are one of my favourites despite lacking most of the fine attributes of these Steiners. Nothing actually wrong with them - probably very good but something irrational didn't work for me and by the sound of it others.
Pity - they looked good hanging from my neck.....

[John Cantelo]

Thanks for the reply - I have Zeiss Fls which I'm very pleased with, but these bins looked a bit more ergonomic so I was wondering how they measured up optically,
John

[Henry B]

Look at this months Bird Watching mag page 82.

[John Cantelo]

Originally Posted by Henry B

Look at this months Bird Watching mag page 82.

Had a look at this brief article today which implicitly suggest that they're equal to or better than Leica/Zeiss/Swarovski et al. Given the retail price is (mostly) similar to the top birding bins, I wonder how much their apparent lack of impact is due to a reluctance by birders who pay 'top dollar' to risk something new. Swarovski had a good name for rugged porros before they entered the roof market, but esteemed though they are by many, is the Steiner brand just too little known?

Incidentally I've seen some of Steiner Discovery bins advertised way below the £850+ bench mark - perhaps everyone's waiting for a bargain!

John

[Leif]

Originally Posted by John Cantelo

Had a look at this brief article today which implicitly suggest that they're equal to or better than Leica/Zeiss/Swarovski et al. Given the retail price is (mostly) similar to the top birding bins, I wonder how much their apparent lack of impact is due to a reluctance by birders who pay 'top dollar' to risk something new. Swarovski had a good name for rugged porros before they entered the roof market, but esteemed though they are by many, is the Steiner brand just too little known?

Incidentally I've seen some of Steiner Discovery bins advertised way below the £850+ bench mark - perhaps everyone's waiting for a bargain!

John

I suspect you are right. ~£850 is a lot of money and maybe most people do not have the confidence to drop most of a K on an 'unknown' brand, regardless of how good they actually are.

There is also the issue of building up a dealer and service network, which takes time and I presume a lot of money, with the danger of little return, for both the distributor and the retailer. I am not sure most dealers would be willing to stock expensive items which have a low profile and hence are high risk. After all, many dealers only stock a few high end names which usually includes Leica, presumably due to brand cachet.

[etudiant]

Setting up a new brand is always costly and difficult, especially if there is no compelling reason for the customer to make the switch.
In addition, this brand may still be suffering from the negative impression created by their once widely used plastic bodied military binoculars. Those glasses were conceived as robust, relatively inexpensive and low maintenance optics. In the event, the equipment turned out to be unserviceable by the armed services, so that any defective gear was scrapped rather than repaired. That left hard feelings which may have carried over into the commercial market.

[Rammers]

Originally Posted by John Cantelo

Incidentally I've seen some of Steiner Discovery bins advertised way below the £850+ bench mark - perhaps everyone's waiting for a bargain!

John

Think I might of found it..£665
http://www.binoculars-uk.co.uk/acata...inoculars.html

[hinnark]

Just a few remarks. If one needs really long ER these bins are worth a closer look. I measured 20 mm eye relief effective from the rim of the eyecup for both types, 8x44 and 10x44. More pros are: wide FOV, the 8x44 e.g. has more than Leica 8x42, but with a remarkable wide sweet spot of sharpness. Steiner has also the best working strap system I know which allows very easy attachment and detachment of the strap within a second. CA is very well controlled, almost just as good as Zeiss FL or Kowa XD.

Steve