Steiner Nighthunter 8x30 Laser Range Finder Binoculars

[dromia]

Anyone have any experience of these binoculars?

I have an option on a pair of these lightly used for £450 which is under half retail price. I know Steiner glass and build quality is usually good at least with the 30 plus year old Steiner binoculars I have experience with. Have Steiner kept up the quality with the current models

It is the range-finder I wonder about, like all modern technology is it just another thing waiting to go wrong? It seems like a bargain, the range finder would be handy but only if it is going to give reliable service, or should I just cut to the chase and spend £100 on a pair of 7x50 ex military?

[ovenpaa]

Get it done, I use the Steiner 7x50 Military and a set of Safari's and I am hard pushed to find any faults other than the Military are a bit rattly these days, if the Nighthunter glass is as good as mine then they will be good plus the bonus of a rangefinder to a mile being quite handy if you need such a feature.

As an aside I have the 7x magnification Leica LRF1200 Rangefinder and it is used a lot, I find it useful to know how far a tree or hedge line is from my vantage point however it is fair to say it is when shooting my less than flat 6,5x47 for rabbits at sporting distances. If you are shooting vermin out to 275-325 yards with a 22-250 such features are less important.

[Ballistol]

For most of my stalking, I've used a pair of Zeiss BGAT, but had a few occasions where it would have been useful to know the exact range so bought a Leica rangefinder to use alongside them. It all works out well enough but to be honest it became too much of a faff on, switching between glasses then rangefinder and back and forth.
I bought a pair of Bushnell fusion binocular rangefinders and found it altogether more usable to have both in a single package. Although the bushnells are good, they aren't a patch on the Zeiss optically, but I still take them out now as my first choice, and the Zeiss stay at home.
I have no experience of the Steiners, but expect that you will have a similar dilemma, it is surprising how often you'll use the rangefinder if it's an option.
A friend has the Swarovski range finding binoculars, and they are the dogs danglies, but I think they were over £2k.