Named after the Peregrine Falcon, the Steiner Peregrine lives up to its namesake’s reputation for keen sight. The 10 x 42mm Peregrine packs excellent high power performance into a surprisingly lightweight body. At only 25 ounces, it is no burden to carry on all-day birding trips. The 10x magnification is good for shorebirding, observing across open meadows and fields, scanning the opposite side of lagoons and lakes, etc. – anywhere the subjects are distant and/or difficult to approach closely.

That said, an exceptionally good near focus of under 8’ allows for close-in birding as well. However, the field of view is narrower and the depth of field shallower than an 8x binocular, necessitating more frequent focus adjustments with the 10x to keep nearby birds in focus as they move from branch to branch. This Peregrine could well be used for close-in birding, but we wouldn’t recommend it as your primary or full-time warbler watcher. High resolution long distance birding is very clearly its strong suite.

The Peregrine has pin-point resolution and surprisingly bright images for a high power binocular, making difficult long distance species identifications markedly easier. Its color fidelity is excellent, even in low light conditions. This very high quality roof prism can handle with distinction just about every long distance birding and wildlife observing situation you might encounter, no matter how problematic the observing conditions.

Features of this binocular . . .

Multicoated optics: Fully multicoated with Steiner’s exclusive broadband HD (High Definition) anti-reflection coatings on all air-to-glass surfaces for excellent color fidelity, light transmission, and contrast. The superior color fidelity makes it easier to resolve subtle species differences, even in poor lighting conditions.

Broadband prism coatings: 40-layer broadband prism coatings are used on the high index glass prisms for maximum light transmission and high definition performance.

Phase coated prisms: Phase-correcting coatings are applied to the prisms to improve color fidelity. The visible improvement resulting from these coatings is particularly apparent when looking sunward at a back-lit or silhouetted bird, where more color and detail can clearly be seen in the shadowed areas of the bird.

Eye relief: The 13mm eye relief will slightly vignette the field for those who must wear eyeglasses while observing, but most eyeglass wearers will not find it a drawback.

Body construction: H-body roof prism with internal center focus. The body is clad in noise- and shock-absorbing rubber armor. The armor’s non-reflective dark green color was formulated to absorb light, rather than reflect it, making the binocular less visible to wildlife. Ribbing on the body provides a sure grip in wet weather. Raised thumb rests on the underside of the barrels help position the hands for a very precise balance that reduces fatigue during extended observing. The armor provides a comfortable grip in all temperature and weather extremes. A 1/4”-20 thread tripod adapter port is built into the front end of the center hinge and covered by a thread-in plastic cap when not in use.

Weather proofing: O-ring sealed and nitrogen purged to be waterproof to a submersion depth of 5 meters (16.4’). The mil spec dry nitrogen purging also makes it internally fogproof no matter what the air temperature.

Focusing: The large ribbed focus knob can be used with either hand, even while wearing gloves or mittens. One turn of the focusing knob quickly moves from the horizon down to a good close focus of 8’ and under (Steiner specifies 7’ 9”).

Diopter adjustment: Ribbed rotary collar on left eyepiece adjusts for individual eyesight differences.

Eyecups/rainguard: Rolldown soft rubber eyecups are flared at the side to block ambient light for those who don’t wear glasses while observing. Contrast is visibly increased compared with conventional flat eyecups. The eyepiece rainguard is itself flared to fit the eyecups.

Objective lens covers: Flipdown soft rubber lens covers are attached to the underside of the binocular objectives so they hang down out of the way when the binocular is in use. The attached covers can’t be lost in the field. For those who prefer to do without objective lens covers, or for those observing hawks overhead where the covers might inadvertently flip up and cover the objectives at an inopportune time, a simple push with a ballpoint pen or paper clip on a recessed quick release button in the armor releases the lens covers so they can be removed.

Case/carry straps: Semi-rigid case has Cordura-type nylon sides, with resilient cloth covered thermo-molded protective front and back panels. A wide woven case strap is provided, as is a wide and soft neoprene comfort neck strap. As with the objective lens covers, the binocular neck strap can easily be removed by simply pushing on a recessed quick release button in the armor with a ballpoint pen or paper clip. However, accidentally releasing the neck strap is virtually impossible.