Canon 10x30 IS Sticky Body

[lindaagee]

Camera body is disgusting. These binoculars are not cheap and work well except for this problem which makes them unusable. This is a manufacturer's defect and in my opinion, Canon should compensate the customer.

[shadowsports]

This eventually happens to all rubber/plasticized devices after years of handling.

The only way to fix is to have them recoated or dipped....  which is obviously not practical.   

Those must be old or were not stored properly.  This is what they look like when new.

[Njbillyboy]

I have the 18x50 IS model. I keep them in the house in the case. I never even touched or had to clean the lenses. I just used them to try to see the comet tonight, which I did. The rubber just past the eyepieces had a sticky feeling. These binoculars I bought new for $1000. 10 years ago. I have used them less than 1 hour. It is pathetic that these are getting sticky. Do not tell me I did not care for them I will be damned if I put duck tape on these. Canon should fix these. William DiCarlo Wall twp NJ.

[lapeltz]

Yup ditto with mine. Stored in a conditioned environment and still got sticky and soupy. Crappy plastic on Canon's behalf and they had nothing to say about it when I asked them. 

[lindaagee]

These binoculars are about 10 years old, very lightly used and always stored in the case. I've had lots of binoculars and cameras over the years and never had this problem.  Will probably go with Nikon this time.

[lapeltz]

I'd recomend Vortex - they stand up behind their products for the lifetime of them. I love my Vortex optics. Wish Canon would stand up behind theirs as well. Most of the time I get crickets from any calls or emails to support.

[Tintype_18]

Age will deteriorate things...me included. I have two bite alarms for fishing. Same problem as the rubber coating is sticky after nine years. I learned to live with it.

[Jeffbrew]

Bad as these look, this is not a hopeless case.

I had the same problem and fixed them quickly and with very little expense and effort. You can see the details in another post I wrote. The fix is to spray-coat them with several coats of lacquer (from a can - Rustoleum for example). Place them on a board - objective lenses down to protect them - and protect the eyepiece lenses with bottle-caps. Don’t worry. The spray lacquer won’t harm anything else.
Give the binoculars about 4 coats of lacquer  (do it outside!) about 30 minutes apart. A final coat or two after about a week is a good idea.
I did mine about a year ago and they are still fixed. I think they look kind of cool too, but maybe that’s just me.

[lindaagee]

I did that and I can hold them without getting black sticky stuff all over my hands but they're pretty ugly.

[Jeffbrew · Accepted solution]

I hear you. I guess that's a price to pay for valuing function over form. Mine are kinda funky too, but having them back in good working shape is satisfying enough to make it all positive for me.