Leupold 10x50HD BX-3 binoculars - just bought at amazing price!!!!! Check this out.

Now I own a pair of leica ultravid 10x25's as my carry bino's and they are hands down the best compact bino's out there.
I wanted a larger pair of bino's for rabbit shooting from fixed shooting stands, and for the kids to use when they tag along, and decided to buy a pair of Vortex Diamondback's sight unseen on special. They were low cost and I wasn't toooooooo worried about optical performance, but to be fair, they are pretty average.

After attending the Sika show this year and looking at all the bino's on display, I concluded that the Leupold's were the best value for money at all price points, and even the BX-1's were way better than the Vortex. So I decided to give the Vortex to my mum, and upgrade for my birthday :thumbsup:
A pair of BX-3 10x42's came up on TM a couple of weeks ago at a good price and I was very temped to purchase them but first decided to have a look on the net to see what prices were like in the USA.
I was rather surprised at what was available, particularly on ebay. I ended up pulling the trigger on a pair of BX-3 10x50HD in black from bigfishbuddy.

They arrived today, and here's the thing - I paid NZ$656.76 landed including FX (as per my visa statement). Declared value on the shipping document was US$99 so they went through 'you know where' without getting slammed for duty or gst (PS. I didn't ask them to do this). Delivery was 8 days from placement of order. Holly shit bat man, these were quoted to me by Gun City at NZ$1,700!!!!

So, big fat shout out for 'bigfishbuddy' on ebay - bloody awesome! If you are looking for a pair of Leupold's, based on my one off experience, I would definitely recommend this seller.

He has BX-3 10x42HD's and 10x50HD's on ebay at the moment.
Leupold BX-3 Mojave Pro Guide HD Binocular 8x42mm Roof Prism 170261 NIB | eBay
Leupold 170605 BX-3 Mojave Pro Guide HD 10x50mm Binoculars Black 30317117702 | eBay