Steiner 8.5x26 Wildlife

Pros: waterproofed, shock proofed, bright, sharp, easy to use

Cons: eye cups and diopter adjuster ring turns loosely

Review: Steiner Wildlife 8.5x26 is one of the best compact waterproof binoculars in its class. I own a handful of compact binoculars from various manufacturers including Nikon 8-24x25, Minox 10x25 br w , Bushnell 10x25, Bausch and Lomb 8x24 and Olympus 8x25 . Bausch and Lomb 8x24 was my favorite for past 20 years because it had a sharpest wide field of view but it was not waterproofed and started to show some stains on the surface of the internal prism. I used the new Steiner Wildlife 8.5x26 for a few month now and very much satisfied. It is waterproofed, rubber armored and Steiner provides amazing 30 year warrantee. Now here is the information from my experience. This little binoculars is very bright and sharp and is the only one that matches the sharpness of my old Bausch and Lomb among my compact collections. Center focusing knob is smooth and about 3.5 turns end to end is very comfortable to sharp focus. Size and weight is a little upper side for the compacts but I feel it better this way since I have bigger hands. Slant shaped rubber eyecups block unwanted lights from the side and can be folded back for the eye glasses. Field of view is wide enough and edge sharpness is good and 8.5 x magnifications is very pleasing. Color of the binoculars is earth tone dark brown and it looks good. Some pictures found in the net shows Green but actually it is brown and looks better. It came with nice looking hard shell harness with straps and separate neck strap for the binoculars is one of the best also. Now the week side. Both rubber eye cups and diopter adjuster ring on the left eye piece does not have enough friction and turns loosely. I applied some sticky compound bought from local hardware store in the grooves and problem is solved. Overall, I am very much satisfied with this little binoculars and recommend this one to any one looking for waterproofed, shock proofed, bright, sharp, easy to use and built to last compact binoculars.