Nauticam 45 finder arrived broken

I recently bought a used "Pristine condition" Nauticam 45 finder on Ebay for a good price that had only been used on a couple of dives. But when it arrived, I was disappointed to find a long obvious crack, the entire length of the inside lens. I contacted the seller, who is also a member of Wetpixel, and he said that the crack was not present when he sent it.

It came wrapped in a thin layer of bubble wrap inside the orignal Nauticam box that was placed in the center of a larger box supported by packing peanuts. I did notice that there was a small amount of room for movement in the inner box and there were no fragile stickers placed on the outside of the box.

So I was wondering if anyone else has had this happen to them when having a viewfinder shipped in the mail, or maybe if the Nauticam finders are particularly fragile. I am actually considering the Inon 45 finder instead now just because of this issue... though I am not sure that it is any less fragile. Or maybe it was just poor packing. Needless to say I am sending it back and getting a refund, but I would like to avoid this a happening in the future.

If it helps - I have travelled with my N45 in my hold luggage on several occasions (when travelling with two systems - and there wasn't room for it in carryon) and that is just wrapped in bubble wrap in a hard-shelled suitcase. It has always been fine.

So I would be surprised if the damage is from the postage. But I guess these things can happen.

Hope you and the previous owner get the dispute resolved.

Alex

Temperature maybe? As in its very cold in the freight part of the plane, so if it then got warmed too quickly, or dropped hard at that point, that might do it.

Be very bad luck, but sounds more likely than impact alone.

Otara

I've travelled with an Inon viewfinder, but the Nauticam looks a more rugged design, to me...

Tim

I travel with both the 45 & 180 in their neoprene pouches stowed loose in the tray in top of my Pelican 1620 and have had no problems.

Thanks for the feedback. It seems this may just be attributed to an instance of bad luck. I do think it may have been caused by a temperature change as well... like how a hot drinking glass fresh from the dishwasher can crack if it is immediately filled with really cold water.... in which case I don't really know how to avoid this if i am to have one shipped to Guam again.