Steiner Predator 10x42 Binoculars

Glassing a cut cornfield at last light or picking apart an open sagebrush slope, an 8x binocular can run short on reach. The Steiner Predator 10x42 (Steiner item 2059) is the 10x42 of Steiner's current Predator line, pairing 10x magnification with the Predator Diamond Coating, which Steiner says "generates superior light transmission and high contrast imaging." Steiner pitches it for "hunting open-country and field edges."

Key Features

• Reach for open country. Steiner says the 10x magnification "reveals greater detail at long-distance." The cost is field and exit pupil: 324 ft and 4.2 mm, against 375 ft and 5.25 mm for the Predator 8x42.
• Fast-Close-Focus. The center wheel "requires minimal rotation for quick absolute sharpness from close-up to infinity," down to 6.6 ft, and the diopter sits on the left eyepiece.
• Waterproof and fogproof. Steiner rates it for submersion to 3 ft and lists it as nitrogen filled, under NBR Long Life rubber armor with a laser texture for grip. Rotary eyecups and 16 mm of eye relief round out the fit.
• In the field. Testing it through a South Dakota bowhunting season and a winter at home, Grand View Outdoors' Dave Maas watched an eagle on a carcass about 150 yards away and could still "decipher whether there was a bird on the carcass" 40 minutes after sunset on a cloudy night. He also liked its "silky-smooth focus knob."

Who It's For

• Open-country and field-edge hunters who want reach more than the widest field. For timber, the Predator 8x42 is the wider one; for more reach, the Predator 15x56.
• Which Steiner 10x42? The Tactical T1042 is Steiner's tactical 10x42: its optics system is High Definition rather than the Predator Diamond Coating, it focuses to 6 ft, and it costs less. The BluHorizons 10x42 uses Steiner's Autobright sunlight-adaptive lenses for bright sun and costs less. The ePredator LRF 10x42 adds a laser rangefinder Steiner rates from 15 to 3,000 m, and costs more.
• Comparing listings? Steiner's earlier Predator 10x42 (item 2444) used CAT coatings; item 2059 is the Diamond Coating model.

Choosing between 8x and 10x: 8x42 vs 10x42 binoculars.