SmallCaliberCentral

Yesterday, I purchased from Cabela's new Leopold BX-3 MOJAVE 10X42 waterproof binoculars.

You may ask why I did that, when you know that I prefer LEICA. The answer to that can be summed up in one word: Price. Cabela's price for the glass was a little under $400. I would estimate the overall quality on a scale of 10 to be a seven. Which in my view isn't that bad.
The glasses seem to be artificially bright, but resolution is fairly good and adjustment with the center mounted diopter adjustment seems easily controllable.

The big advantage when compared to the Leicas is that if they are dropped overboard from the boat is not that big a loss. But humorously, while Leopold as a fairly decent warranty program, the glasses are not covered if they rest at the bottom of the Puget Sound. So rather than take my Leica's on the boat, these 10 x 42 meet the needs without the risk.

It appears that Leopold does not build a Marine glass, normally thought of as seven power 7X50, a moderate power glass with a light gathering larger objective, often having a compass and ranging elements. As far as I could determine, Leopold does not build a Marine configuration, but these glasses come reasonably close at a moderate price.

They come from the factory with a strap, flips, and a funky little case of indeterminate materials. Given these limitations and the moderate price I am quite happy with my purchase. Interestingly, while like Leica's price has gone out the window since I purchased mine, Leopold has maintain their price by purchasing their glass and having work done overseas.

Leopold does have a premium glass, but from what I could see (and to these old eyes) the improvement did not justify the 200+ dollars that would've been involved with that purchase.

Dave, glad the new compromise glass worked out for your purposes, but you may want to take note that your new glass brand is spelled "LEUPOLD".

P.S. I'm a Leica fan too.....what's NOT to like?

You have an excellent point Rick. I generally however depend on the spelling police to correct mine, which often extends below the line.

And I was incorrect in my other post, for now I have also acquired a 10 x 50 Leupold binoculars which actually really quite good.

I also note on visiting a Kesselring gun shop in Burlington Washington, where they no longer sell guns but now tend to specialize in everything else including reloading, optics, accessories, and everything else associated with hunting or shooting. As a result of this they now display the complete line of Leupold scopes and accessories. In fact it is quite humorous that people who used harass me for spending $3000 plus on a scope can now do without much effort the same with top-of-the-line Leupold scopes. Once again, on looking at the scopes at that price performance tends to approximate that of quality scopes that I have purchased for the last twenty-five years. Larger objectives, and 34 mm tubes on variables were quite apparent. I didn't see any 80 mm objectives, but Leupold appears to have pushed the variable range multiple a little further yet. It took a few years, but they are demonstrating some confidence in high-end scope development.

Leupold (spelling) is a Chinese company using that spelling, I believe, to make people think the product is out of Or. Other items are popping up with false names to fool people with the lower price on items.. Check carefully, that you are getting what you are really after. Bill K