Steiner Wildlife XP 10.5x28

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DeanD Australia
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Steiner Wildlife XP 10.5x28

#1

Post by DeanD »


Hi folks, I just acquired a pair of Steiner Wildlife XP 10.5x28 binos, mainly to carry in my pocket while walking etc. I don't see it as an Astronomy bino as such.

However, I will be taking them back to the dealer on Monday as the view through the left side is considerably worse than the right. The centre sharpness, the CA correction and the brightness of the image is very good for both sides, but the view deteriorates markedly from about 30% away from the centre on the left, and 60% on the right. This is particularly manifested when I focus on close objects, and I have to reset the diopter adjustment (which is on the left) to get a sharp image. (At first I couldn't work out why this was happening, but now I have determined the cause is this disparity in "sweet spot".)

I feel that even the 60% sweet spot on the right is low for what is purported to be an excellent "sharp to the edge" binocular, but the 30% on the left is something that I would expect in a $50 Tasco...

So, a couple of questions. Has anyone else had any experience with this Steiner range? Am I wasting my money trying for a replacement, or should I try for an "alpha" instead? My budget doesn't allow this at present: but the Steiners have been promoted as the top of their range in the compact binos, and are supposedly made in Germany, and I was hoping they would compete well with Leica/Zeiss/Swarovski. Apparently not...

BTW, the purchase was triggered when I missed out (by 5 minutes!) on getting a barely-used Swarovski 10x25 CL at an excellent price, and I saw the Steiners advertised locally at an also excellent price, so I thought they might be a good "consolation" pick...

Another question: does anyone know the difference between the Steiner "Wildlife", the "Wildlife Pro" and the "Wildlife XP" in the compact range, or are they just successive models? Is, for example, the "Wildlife" supposedly better than the "XP"?

Thanks all,

Dean
Last edited by DeanD on Fri Jul 09, 2021 10:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
Telescopes: 12" f5 dob, Celestron CPC800, 150mmf5 Celestron achro, Tak TSA102, TV76, ETX125...
Binos: Steiner Wildlife XP 10x26, Swarovski 8x30 Habicht, Zeiss SFL 8x40, Vanguard Endeavour 10.5x45, Fuji FMTR-SX 10x50, Tak 22x60, Orion Resolux 15x70
Eyepieces: way too many (is that possible?), but I do like my TV 32mm plossl, 13mm Nagler T6, 27mm Panoptic and 3-6mm Nagler zoom, plus Fujiyama 18mm and 25mm orthos and Tak 7.5mm LE
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Butterfly Maiden Great Britain
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Re: Steiner Wildlife XP 10.5x28

#2

Post by Butterfly Maiden »


DeanD wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 8:56 am Hi folks, I just acquired a pair of Steiner Wildlife XP 10.5x28 binos, mainly to carry in my pocket while walking etc. I don't see it as an Astronomy bino as such.

However, I will be taking them back to the dealer on Monday as the view through the left side is considerably worse than the right. The centre sharpness, the CA correction and the brightness of the image is very good for both sides, but the view deteriorates markedly from about 30% away from the centre on the left, and 60% on the right. This is particularly manifested when I focus on close objects, and I have to reset the diopter adjustment (which is on the left) to get a sharp image. (At first I couldn't work out why this was happening, but now I have determined the cause is this disparity in "sweet spot".)

I feel that even the 60% sweet spot on the right is low for what is purported to be an excellent "sharp to the edge" binocular, but the 30% on the left is something that I would expect in a $50 Tasco...

So, a couple of questions. Has anyone else had any experience with this Steiner range? Am I wasting my money trying for a replacement, or should I try for an "alpha" instead? My budget doesn't allow this at present: but the Steiners have been promoted as the top of their range in the compact binos, and are supposedly made in Germany, and I was hoping they would compete well with Leica/Zeiss/Swarovski. Apparently not...

BTW, the purchase was triggered when I missed out (by 5 minutes!) on getting a barely-used Swarovski 10x25 CL at an excellent price, and I saw the Steiners advertised locally at an also excellent price, so I thought they might be a good "consolation" pick...

Another question: does anyone know the difference between the Steiner "Wildlife", the "Wildlife Pro" and the "Wildlife XP" in the compact range, or are they just succeeding models? Is, for example, the "Wildlife" supposedly better than the "XP"?

Thanks all,

Dean
Hello Dean, that is very disappointing for you :(

I am not familiar with the Steiner range of binoculars so I can't help you there I'm afraid - sorry.

However, it may just be that you received a faulty model. It may be worth not giving up on them completely, but rather have the company send you a replacement pair.
If the replacement is as bad, then I would get a refund and look for a different brand.
Vanessa

Nikon D82 Fieldscope with 30x/45x/56x angled eyepiece.
Olympus DPS-1 10x50 binoculars.
Leica 8x32BN binoculars.
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DeanD Australia
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Re: Steiner Wildlife XP 10.5x28

#3

Post by DeanD »


Follow-up. I took them back to the dealer today and swapped for a pair of 10x26 that he had in stock (with a $40 refund as well). These seem to be much better: more closely approximating the "sharp to the edge" claim of Steiner: well, sharp to ~70% of the way anyway (which is pretty much what I would expect for this price point, and better than both sides of the 10.5x28's!). I can't check by looking at star fields yet obviously, because the mandatory 7 days of cloud is rolling in, and the forecast is for one of the wettest weeks for the last 12 months: even though they are not primarily for astronomical viewing! ;)

They fit nicely in my pocket when I go for a walk, which was the primary physical criteria: and have already given me some nice bird-views. They seem to have a high transmission too: nice bright images for such a small objective.

Fingers crossed, but feeling much happier. :)

- and FWIW I finally managed to find some info about "Wildlife" vs "Wildlife Pro" vs "Wildlife XP". Buried on the Steiner Europe site is a reply to a query about this from a customer of their 8x24 XP binos, where Steiner states that the "XP" has better coatings and glass than the other, previous models: so the XP is supposed to be the best... (oddly, the local dealer that I bought them through has the discontinued "Wildlife" 10x26 for $200 more than the XP's that I have ended up with (that are supposed to be the improved version). Go figure...
Telescopes: 12" f5 dob, Celestron CPC800, 150mmf5 Celestron achro, Tak TSA102, TV76, ETX125...
Binos: Steiner Wildlife XP 10x26, Swarovski 8x30 Habicht, Zeiss SFL 8x40, Vanguard Endeavour 10.5x45, Fuji FMTR-SX 10x50, Tak 22x60, Orion Resolux 15x70
Eyepieces: way too many (is that possible?), but I do like my TV 32mm plossl, 13mm Nagler T6, 27mm Panoptic and 3-6mm Nagler zoom, plus Fujiyama 18mm and 25mm orthos and Tak 7.5mm LE
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Re: Steiner Wildlife XP 10.5x28

#4

Post by Butterfly Maiden »


I am pleased to hear Dean that you got sorted out without a problem :smile:
Vanessa

Nikon D82 Fieldscope with 30x/45x/56x angled eyepiece.
Olympus DPS-1 10x50 binoculars.
Leica 8x32BN binoculars.
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DeanD Australia
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Re: Steiner Wildlife XP 10.5x28

#5

Post by DeanD »


I noticed that the vendor now has the 10.5x28's listed as "in stock", where they were "out of stock" before I took them back (and they said there were none on the way). I assume they decided the next buyer wont be as fussy as me... Lucky I didn't damage the box! ;)
Telescopes: 12" f5 dob, Celestron CPC800, 150mmf5 Celestron achro, Tak TSA102, TV76, ETX125...
Binos: Steiner Wildlife XP 10x26, Swarovski 8x30 Habicht, Zeiss SFL 8x40, Vanguard Endeavour 10.5x45, Fuji FMTR-SX 10x50, Tak 22x60, Orion Resolux 15x70
Eyepieces: way too many (is that possible?), but I do like my TV 32mm plossl, 13mm Nagler T6, 27mm Panoptic and 3-6mm Nagler zoom, plus Fujiyama 18mm and 25mm orthos and Tak 7.5mm LE
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