Night Vision Steiner C35 Clip On

[DownRangeThermal]

Just received 10 of these and I am really impressed so far. Will shoot it this weekend but highlights are
1. All aluminum housing like the other Steiners. Very robust unit in an ocean of plastic commercial stuff.
2. I had a lunch with steiner last fall when this was in development and gave them some advice on the mount. They listened! 1.5 inch height and a strong lever mechanism....like a dbal mount on steroids. Balances perfect under the unit.
3. Great image quality @4x and menu full vis at that range. This thing will satisfy on a lpvo.
4. MAP on this bad boy is $3999....for a 640! At that price would make an excellent second clip on for a smaller rifle if you can accept the weight would a fantastic clip-on/ spotter combo. I don't expect our inventory to last long.


Fyi....I installed the vortex flip cap....they ship with a tethered cap.

@4x. Distance to VADER is like 5 yds but just displaying pixelation level at 4x

 

[aslrookie]

What’s the weight?

 

[Twistid]

I was told by Steiner the 2+ pound S35 is only rated up to 308 semi auto (800g shock). What's the point of a heavy all metal thermal if that's all it can take?

This is in comparison to the lighter Iray Rico that is rated to 300 win/7mm mag (over 1000g) which also has a longer warranty period (steiner only has two year warranty).

 

[DownRangeThermal]

I was told by Steiner the 2+ pound S35 is only rated up to 308 semi auto (800g shock). What's the point of a heavy all metal thermal if that's all it can take?

This is in comparison to the lighter Iray Rico that is rated to 300 win/7mm mag (over 1000g) which also has a longer warranty period (steiner only has two year warranty).

I would take recoil ratings on commercial products with a grain of salt. Very often they have thrown darts at a board. They just dont have the bandwidth to conduct legitimate recoil testing at different levels. That's one way they keep these costs insanely low.
I believe the measure of hardiness of a product goes far beyond recoil ratings. So many of our customers throw a rifle in the back of a side by side and drive down the bumpy ranch roads. We've been renting thermals out for years here at our shop so we've seen the benefits of stronger beefier housings first hand.

 

[db2000]

I would take recoil ratings on commercial products with a grain of salt. Very often they have thrown darts at a board. They just dont have the bandwidth to conduct legitimate recoil testing at different levels. That's one way they keep these costs insanely low.
I believe the measure of hardiness of a product goes far beyond recoil ratings. So many of our customers throw a rifle in the back of a side by side and drive down the bumpy ranch roads. We've been renting thermals out for years here at our shop so we've seen the benefits of stronger beefier housings first hand.

My concern is a warranty could be voided and then blamed on recoil, regardless of the actual reason. Not specifically with Steiner but any comparable thermal. Seems it would be hard to debate with them. Just a thought.

 

[DownRangeThermal]

My concern is a warranty could be voided and then blamed on recoil, regardless of the actual reason. Not specifically with Steiner but any comparable thermal. Seems it would be hard to debate with them. Just a thought.

Well, they would have to prove recoil caused the issue. That's tough to do. Shock can be caused by all sorts of things. Typically on a thermal device recoil limitations are seen through power loss/interruption. For example you shoot and the device reboots or shuts off. Sometimes displays will present with dead pixels that can usually be eliminated simply with a NUC or a factory reflash. Analog NV limitations are seen through far more costly and permanent outcomes like electrical arcing/ black spots.

 

[stefan73]

Looking to see pictures of this out in the wild at some distance. Does it have manual focus ability?

 

[spamassassin]

Any chance we can get a pic of something through that unit at say... 10x. I know it'll probably be pixelated as all get out but I'm curious.

 

[The King]

Any idea on country of origin? That shit will be in my mailbox before you can finish sneezing if it wasn't made by child slaves in the land of plenty.

 

[jwramp]

Any idea on country of origin? That shit will be in my mailbox before you can finish sneezing if it wasn't made by child slaves in the land of plenty.

@TheHorta can comment on the lack of markings anywhere on it

 

[TheHorta]

Steiner took great pains to conceal country of origin. It’s not anywhere on the device (unless hidden beneath the rail mount), nowhere on the packaging, and nowhere in the documentation. I think we all jump to a similar conclusion that by trying so hard to conceal country of origin it screams “Chynah!!!!”

That said, I assumed the sensor would be iRay, but it may be the Flir Boson 12um because it has the traditional funky Iron, etc Flir color pallettes.

The C35 is a serious — BRICK — of a unit. 35 ounces with funky 18650 “B” 3.7v battery (standard 18650’s will NOT fit, but Steiner includes one of the “B” types and a charger. Sadly, the battery arrived dead and needed to be charged. That said, it comes with a cable to run off an external USB Anker, and that works fine).

 

[Twistid]

Oof, Chinese?? Steiner hit a new low

 

[The King]

Oof, Chinese?? Steiner hit a new low

We assume that. It’s not known at all. In the US you are supposed to mark country of origin on anything not made in the US.

Steiner is one of the few companies to have the actual capacity to make this unit in the US (Greeley) and the FLIR core makes it even more likely.

 

[TheHorta]

Oof, Chinese?? Steiner hit a new low

I don’t think we can avoid it anymore. Certainly not at a $4K price point.

 

[db2000]

I don’t think we can avoid it anymore. Certainly not at a $4K price point.

Don’t get the radicals started. You’ll be labeled a commie sheep

 

[Conqueror]

That battery compartment sticking out the side was an odd design choice. This thing looks like a ClipIR mated with an RH25.

 

[TheHorta]

I don’t want to hijack DRT’s thread, so I’m going to start a new one comparing the C35 to some other things I have kicking around.

New thread is here!

 

[spamassassin]

Just got mine today. Very nice, definitely on the puerco side but that's ok, the rifle is already 18-22lbs, what's a couple more.

Thanks to DRT for a smooth deal and lightning fast delivery. Excellent bunch to work with.

 

[Twistid]

Did anyone confirm that it was a china core?

Yes their CS confirmed it to me.