Steiner Peregrine Binoculars

Steiner Peregrine binoculars, both 8 and 10 power, share a visually striking design that should strongly appeal to any birder. They are slim and light, and their ribbed rubber armor, black and gold falcon head logo, and novel wrap-around eyecups make them look like the binoculars Batman would choose to keep an eye on The Penguin.

Our reviewers found that these binoculars were particularly bright, clear, and showed strikingly vivid colors. They also exhibited virtually none of the distracting “color bars” due to chromatic aberrations that are seen at the edges of contrasty objects in some binoculars. The most critical reviewers may only notice a very slight mudding of the colors at the extreme edges of the view.

The 10x have a 295-foot field of view and the 8x have 367-foot field of view at 1000 yards. This is about average for these magnifications. A note of the reviewing panel was there appeared to be somewhat of a tunnel effect in the view; when compared with other binoculars the image appeared to have a bit more black surrounding the view.

Because they are so light (25 oz. for the 10x and half an ounce less for the 8x), they cause very little fatigue, even after a long day in the field. Their slender barrels make them very easy to handle and a likely favorite for birders, especially those with smaller hands. The rubber armor has raised molded thumb rests. Some reviewers commented they were a bit far forward so were more comfortable to hold if they moved their thumb behind the rest's aft ridge.

They come with a nice, padded, heavy cordura case and a padded strap that has snap-in connections to attach to the sides of the barrels for easy removal. If the birder wants to change to different straps or harnesses, they will have to special order the fastening clips that snap into the barrels or modify the strap. Modifying binocular straps so they can quickly be moved between harnesses and neck straps is defined within the Miscellaneous article in the All About Optics section of the site.

The diopter compensation is traditional style, on the left eyepiece. Many birders find it is easier to set up the diopter adjustment with this style than with the diopter controls on the center shaft. As a general rule sharp focus between both eyes should be occasionally checked and this style makes adjustments simple.

The eyecups are among the most distinctive features of these binoculars. Their soft rubber is sharply angled, so that they wrap comfortably around the sides of the viewers eyes. This almost totally eliminates stray light from the side, at least for those who bird without eyeglasses. The eyecups fold down for eyeglass wearers, who of course lose the advantage of the wrap-around eyecups. The glasses come with a custom rainguard that fits the angled eyecups exactly.

The lens covers at the objective end of the binoculars are dark green and slightly translucent. They attach to the ends of the barrels on short rubber strips. They work well to protect the objective lens, but when the glasses are held at the wrong angle or when a strong wind blows, they can flip in front of the objectives and obscure the view. They also overlap when the binoculars are adjusted for narrow interpupillary distances, and then are even more likely to flip up against the lenses. We might like to see the attachment set a little further back with a little longer tether. If the birder finds the lens caps distracting, they are simple to remove and have a quick release snap-in attachment so they can be easily detached and used like traditional lens caps.

These binoculars are exceptionally easy to focus. The focus knob turns barely more than 360° end-to-end, and the knob is designed so that this entire range can be traversed with only two “pumps” of the finger. Compare this to some binoculars that are over two full turns end-to-end, and that only allow a fraction of a revolution per “pump,” and you can understand why the Steiners focus so quickly and easily.

Another strong point for the Steiner Peregrine is their excellent close focus. In our tests the 10x binoculars had a 5-foot-3 inch close focus and the 8x had a 5-foot-2 inch close focus. This puts them in the category with the best in close focus binoculars and gives them the versatility to be used in many situations beyond typical birding such as watching butterflies and dragonflies, etc.

Durability can also be added to the list for these binoculars. We did loose one eyecup during a night excursion in the mountains of Arizona, but it was quickly replaced and it is difficult to say that this is a typical occurrence. We don’t recommend you try this at home, but we understand that for show demonstrations of durability, Steiner will run over a pair of binoculars with a car and they remain undamaged… Now that is durable! They are also waterproof and nitrogen purged to fare well in all weather conditions.

The 10x42 Peregrine have an MSRP of $1499 and the 8x42 have an MSRP of $1399. This puts them in the top price class but they are discounted very well on the street ($889 and $839 respectively, found on this site) putting them more in the high mid-priced optics class. Over all, we give the Steiner Peregrine very high marks. They are light, bright, easy to handle, and show superb colors. The Steiner optics designed for birders/nature observers are new additions to their lines. We expect these to be well received in the birding market, as they are certainly a top choice in binoculars.

Steiner Peregrine Binoculars - current price and availability