Durability of Nauticam handles

I'm trying to decide which tray, handles and arms to get for Nauticam E-M5 housing.

I like Nauticam tray and handles, but someone at camera store showed me a broken Nauticam handle and advised against it claiming that there were more cases like that.

I have no information in what circumstances it got broken.

Anyway, I wanted to ask if you had any problems with these handles or is it just an isolated incident.

We’ve had a total of 4 tray handles break in several hundred sold and these were replaced free of charge. The design was changed early to prevent any issues.

Hi there!

I would personaly choose Nauticam. Have been using it on EM5 housing since almost 2 years and I believe it will still next 10.

I use it often, my equipement is pretty heavy but it doens't matter. Tray is very solid. In my opinion it is a good choice.

I have not broken any handles, but I have gone through a couple of trays where the screw holes have corroded away and no longer hold the handle in place.

Bill

Thank you for that info.

@Alex - re: design change

Does it mean that I should have no worries if I order brand new equipment from Nauticam?

Is there a way to tell if a handle is prior or after design change?

The change was about 2 years ago so no problem now.

What breaks, the handle itself? What's the weak point?

Cheers

/O

Hi

Related to this old post --- I was preparing my Nauticam D500 Housing this morning and noticed a crack in the base of the right handle, next to the connection point with the camera. It won't be long before it breaks off. The housing is approx 2 years old and has been treated with kid leather gloves! Has anyone had a similar problem?

Cheers

John

One of the handles for my Nauticam D500 housing snapped mid-center after about a year and a half (replaced free under warranty)Same thing happened to a buddies D800 Nauticam housing(replaced for a fee-housing over 2 yrs. old)Both incidents occurred while on dive trips abroad).

D.K.S.

My Flexitray came apart (on a dive trip, as the camera was being handed up at the boat); screws came out of the base of the right handle. Now I use a heavier, stronger iDas tray.

I've found my Nauticam flextray quite solid. You do need to pay attention to periodically tighten the screws and use the stainless brackets between the top of the housing and top of the tray handle, which significantly strengthens the whole setup. I also grease all of my screws to help guard against corrosion.

Unfortunately, my early model OM10 housing does not permit the installation of the top brackets. Yes, T-Fal on all screws.

Breakages aside, I don't understand why Nauticam can't come up with some sort of material for the handgrip itself that doesn't start to deteriorate after a few years.

What do you guys recommend to coat the screws with?

I was happy to upgrade to the EM1ii to I could get the top brackets.

I always cringed when the boat crew would lower my rig down as they always clipped into 1 side.

Tef-gel is awesome for preventing stainless threads from corroding in aluminium.

Yes, Tef-gel is what I meant when I wrote t-fal earlier. Sorry.

another option is LanoPro grease

https://www.xit404.com/collections/stuff/products/lanopro-corosion-inhibitor-grease-1-4-oz

I can only seem to find it in massive tubs in Europe thou

I dislike Nauticam handles there is far too much hardware and I hate the fact they are angled because it create an imbalance on the arms tilting them forward. If they wanted to create some ergonomics they should have somehow twisted the camera and kept the arms perpendicolar to the base

Has anyone trie getting rid of them entirely? Using maybe the Tray for Subal http://www.ulcs.com/index.php/products/slr-camera-housings

I don't know if it's long lasting, but prior to a dive holiday I use simple silicon grease for screws of the handle and after the holiday I use just Balistol spray.