Well? Are the Steiner Nighthunter  binocs worth the money? Do they really give ANY night vision aid?

I bought a pair of the 12x56 last year for an antelope hunt I went on to Wyoming.  As far as the

"night vision aid" you're asking about, it may not be what you think.  Yes the objective is large

enough on the pair I have to gather just about any ambient light that might be available and Steiner

does claim to have some special coating on their glass that helps in low light conditions.  I've

gone out on moon lit nights just to play with them and see how well they work and I would have to

say they do illuminate objects more so than other binos I've owned but it's not like having night

vision equipment.  I've yet to use them in a hunting situation in extremly low light conditions.

One thing I thought I would enjoy was what Steiner calls "Sport Auto Focus" where the glasses

some how automatically focus for you like your own eye does.  Pain in the butt.  You still have to

focus each individual eye piece.  This may be a great feature if you are sitting in one spot glassing

large areas for extended periods, but if you are moving around and trying to view areas at

drastically different distances, I found it to be a pain.  Also the pair I have are heavy.  Not to bad

with one of the Bino System by Crooked Horn

This is worth it's wait in gold with just about any binoculars, especially heavy ones.

With all that said, I would take the money you would spend on a pair of Steiners, add a little extra

to it and get you a really nice pair of Swarovski's.  Even at this level of binoculars,  Swarovski

is head and shoulders above everything else.  Go try both and see for yourself, I wish I had.

Thank you very kindly for the detailed info.