Steiner 7x50 Commander V with Compass Binoculars

Comments about Steiner 7x50 Commander V w/Compass Binoculars:

In the mega-yacht industry and have completed two trans-Atlantic trips with the Commander V. These optics in low light situations are unsurpassed. Side by side comparisons with Bushnell and similar products make the Steiner's quality apparent in all seagoing conditions. The compass design is a problem. Exposing it to high temperatures under the wheelhouse glass (similar to a dashboard effect in a car) caused the compass stabilizing fluid to expand and leak. The result was an air bubble in the compass. Frustrating for a glass in this price range and surprising for a German engineered product. Steiner's USA representative (Pioneer Research) immediately upgraded me with the XP model and I can't say enough about [...]the XP, though I have not given them the wheelhouse dashboard test!

Comments about Steiner 7x50 Commander V w/Compass Binoculars:

I have the predecessor model called Commander III, now for 6 years. They are easy to use bins with a bright clear picture and OK at night but not as good as the much cheaper Nikons my friend has. They are set to infinity, which means you don't have to focus them - though you cannot checkout your masttop for example as this is too close. But now to the bad news: A year into our world tour, the rubber coating started to dissolve, it got so bad that we needed to cover the whole body with spinnaker-tape. Then the glue fixing the compass housing dried out and one could freely turn the compass.

We had sent it to Steiner and they told us that the rubber coating was excluded from warranty - they compared it to car tires that wear off naturally. So we payed just under $200 to have the bins repaired.

They came back from repair with the compass fitted in a non aligned way. After some arguing they took them back again to correct the problem.

A few months later in a s

tropical rain storm the bins filled with water and the new rubber starts to get sticky again after less than a year of use. They are back at Steiner again but I wouldn't spend a dime on them now and I'm here at this site to look for a replacement.