Rifle Scopes Steiner 5-25x56 Glass Clarity vs Schmidt & Bender
- Thread starter ryu_sekai
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I had a Steiner and by buddy has the S&B. I always hear one of two things, S&B glass is overrated and lots of other optics are close, or nothing touches it. Having never had a S&B I figured I would do a side by side. Now the only optic I had that came close to the Steiner was my NF ATACR (ATACR is same league as Steiner) but it was better then my USO, NXS's, SS 5-20 etc. so for me top shelf. Now I am 48 years old, eyes getting a bit tired from a lifetime of staring through optics (my excuse) so I never really see a "dramatic" difference unless I compare a UTG with the ATACR but man there is a difference. I can't articulate what is better about the S&B glass, kind of like the pornography thing "I know it when I see it" (however, being a dirty old man I have yet to see anything that offends me.... but I digress) The S&B was just more... "vivid" and a better "pop" and the colors were brighter. So now I know why people who have an S&B say it is the holly grail of glass. Still prefer my ATACR, but man.... that was some good glass.
Sully
Sully
I have both and yeah the S&B has a slight edge but not a 1200 dollar edge by any means. Both are top shelf optics imo.. My S&B shonestly sit on a shelf now that I've started running March optics. No the eye box isn't as good but I have zero problems with it.
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I've done side by sides with my Steiners and several other upper tier name scopes, including S&B, NF (NXS and ATACR), Vortex, and USO. Several of the guys I shoot with are optics whores and buy/try everything
My ranking by glass:
1. S&B - They have a slight edge in true optical clarity (general) - to me - over the Steiners. Certainly not $600+ better, IMO.
2. Steiner - Right up there with S&B, but not quite. I personally prefer the image of the Steiner, as something about the S&B reticle image bugs me. (I don't know how to describe it, but my eyes don't like the S&B). There is a reason I have 6 Steiners.
3. Vortex Razor Series - Gen 1 - To me the Vortex Razor is the next best scope. I have only had a brief chance to look through the Razor II, but they look to be every bit as good and likely better. They take the cake over USO and NF in my book. Everyday, and twice on Sunday. Even the ATACR. I won't even bother to poke at the Beast. I haven't seen it, and it is still vaporware for 99.9999% of the world.
5. NF and USO - The glass in these two is just not impressive to me. Yes, they have good names for durability, but they are both lacking the pop of the amazing glass quality that most of us are looking for this kind of money. To me, these are very durable, but the glass is dark and murky at any decent magnification.
My ranking by glass:
1. S&B - They have a slight edge in true optical clarity (general) - to me - over the Steiners. Certainly not $600+ better, IMO.
2. Steiner - Right up there with S&B, but not quite. I personally prefer the image of the Steiner, as something about the S&B reticle image bugs me. (I don't know how to describe it, but my eyes don't like the S&B). There is a reason I have 6 Steiners.
3. Vortex Razor Series - Gen 1 - To me the Vortex Razor is the next best scope. I have only had a brief chance to look through the Razor II, but they look to be every bit as good and likely better. They take the cake over USO and NF in my book. Everyday, and twice on Sunday. Even the ATACR. I won't even bother to poke at the Beast. I haven't seen it, and it is still vaporware for 99.9999% of the world.
5. NF and USO - The glass in these two is just not impressive to me. Yes, they have good names for durability, but they are both lacking the pop of the amazing glass quality that most of us are looking for this kind of money. To me, these are very durable, but the glass is dark and murky at any decent magnification.
I have the S-B 3-27 and the glass is amazing, but the Henny 3.5x26 is better IMO, probably going to end up getting the Henny as well after handling it personally. Everyone has their opinions but I don't think no one can compete with those 2 as of yet, would love to see how the BEAST glass is in comparison
I haven't been able to check out the new S&B and was told the glass is better in the 27x model and believe it. They had how many years to work on it. Lol. As far as hensoldt yeah they imo have always had the best glass but just like S&B 99% of people won't and cant drop 6-7k+ on one. The optics imo are not worth 3k more than the 5-25 model or any other the older hensoldt models out there.
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Better optics in what regard? Comparing Steiner and S&B telescopic sights is somewhat like comparing blonds and brunettes. Everyone gets hung up on optical quality; yes they look different because they are. Does not mean one is better than the other, S&B’s tend to have more depth perception and easier on the eye for observation with more time behind the glass, aka less eye strain. Steiner’s tend to have a sharper focus zone and shallower depth perception; this can be easier to adjust parallax especially for beginners. Both collect ample light and do the job no argument here I hope? The bigger question that seems to get missed is reticle design, again does not make one or the other good or bad. MSR reticles work well in both, get into ELR shooting and the P-4F in a top choice. How does a particular sight track regardless of the name on it? This is the biggest factor using any telescopic sighting system. Proper calibrated tracking trumps the brightest, most colorful, sharpest sight picture you can buy…I mean find.
Slight edge to the S&B but the Steiner is definitely alpha-class, and a good deal less expensive. I like the illumination knob, and the 2nd turn indicator on the elevation turret is excellent, as are tracking and repeatability. No tunneling on the Steiner, either. There's something about an S&B, though, they're hard to fault. I'd take either but I good a good deal on the Steiner after I sold an S&B PMII 5-25 and have no regrets.
Same here delixe. I have a few s&bs but they are on friends guns because they are to cheap to buy good optics. I won't let them have my stieners because I prefer them for some reason. My wife shoots with those guns and has a hard time with the S&B optics as far as getting in the eye box but no problems with the stiener which doesn't really make sense to me but it's her eyes. I have no problem with my match optics with the eye box but others hate them. All personal preference imo.
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I don,t own a s and b but i love my 4 x 16 steiner. Looking for another one but they quit making it from what i gather.
No worries. We just finished another run on those scopes. They should be available in a few weeks if not sooner.
Do the new ones have the same turrets as the 5-25x56 models? I love the second d turn indicator. That's how every optic should be imo.
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I had a chance to compare a S&B 5-25 and Steiner 5-25 side by side and ended up keeping the Steiner. For clarity, I honestly couldn't tell much difference as both scopes were excellent.
Reasons for Steiner over S&B:
- Preferred illumination adjustment on parallax knob.
- Did not tunnel at lower magnification ranges.
- Better field of view.
- Less weight (35.3ozs. vs. 38.1ozs.)
- Excellent eyebox. I have no way to quantify if it is better than S&B though.
- Significantly less money ($1000USD+)
On a rifle scope for me reliability trumps optical clarity. After all, a clear scope with unreliable tracking is not really useful. So reliability-wise I don't have enough data yet to make a call on the Steiner, but so far it's looking good. The Steiner has been mounted on a .338LM and has a few hundred rounds down it and it still holds zero and tracks perfectly. The turrets have a nice positive feel and the zero stop is simple to set. The scope is also well constructed in terms of fit and finish.
Reasons for Steiner over S&B:
- Preferred illumination adjustment on parallax knob.
- Did not tunnel at lower magnification ranges.
- Better field of view.
- Less weight (35.3ozs. vs. 38.1ozs.)
- Excellent eyebox. I have no way to quantify if it is better than S&B though.
- Significantly less money ($1000USD+)
On a rifle scope for me reliability trumps optical clarity. After all, a clear scope with unreliable tracking is not really useful. So reliability-wise I don't have enough data yet to make a call on the Steiner, but so far it's looking good. The Steiner has been mounted on a .338LM and has a few hundred rounds down it and it still holds zero and tracks perfectly. The turrets have a nice positive feel and the zero stop is simple to set. The scope is also well constructed in terms of fit and finish.
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I feel that same way. I can take that thousand bucks and put it towards a spotter or buy another tac30 action or whatever. I've done quite a few tracking test on the stiener 5-25x56 and it's dead in all the way though the whole turret range. They are definitely quality top shelf optics. A little large for the 5-25x56 models but still not as heavy as the S&B 5-25x56 pmii I have and even though it's not a huge difference it's one I can tell when mounted. I don't like the illumination knob location on the S&B since it limits me in where I can place my rings. A few of my one piece mounts don't work well with them. All I'm asking for is a floating dot and they would be perfect imo. From the sounds of it they have something coming down the pipeline which is great. I'll buy it as soon as it's available if a floating dot is an option on the MSR reticle. Maybe a way to disable the windage knob as well. To many jokers out there like to mess with them when I'm not looking. Lol.
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