Nauticam has released an official announcement in connection with the problems that a few wetpixel members have highlighted in the forum. The issue affects the NA-550D, a housing for the Canon 550D, and addresses an issue with a screw loosening due to vibration. Nauticam NA-550D owners are recommended to contact their dealers at their earliest convenience.

We are very concerned about the two reports that a screw, which fastens the Rocker Key* assembly, is believed to have loosened from its original position. Upon careful examination of the two housings in question, we suspect that the only possible cause is that the conventional mounting method we utilized might be weakened by abrupt vibrations, perhaps induced during frequent/various means of transportation. We would therefore advise our customers to check for the integrity of the Rocker Key before continuing to use the housing.

Although the chances of occurrence of the phenomenon are extremely slim and we have been unable to replicate it in our testing facility, our company consider it of paramount importance; and most beneficial to our customers to further improve the vibration resistance of the assembly. As such, we have redesigned the way it is fastened. The new design involves changing two parts in the assembly, and we have carried out extensive testing to verify the durability of the new construction. Upon the satisfaction of the new design, we have taken immediate action in switching to the new design for all new NA-550D housings.

In order that existing NA-550D customers can improve the vibration resistance of their housings to the new design, we are offering one set of the new parts to each NA-550D customer. The changing over to the new design only takes several minutes, and does not need any special tool other than the set of allen keys originally supplied with the housing. Within the next two weeks you will be receiving notification from your dealer of this improvement kit. You can also liaise with our dealers should you need their assistance in carrying out the change for you at your convenience.

We at Nauticam are constantly striving for improvement to build the best products for underwater photographers and welcome continued feedback from our users about our products.

Sincerely,

Nauticam Management Aug 31, 2010

*The Rocker Key is the two-way press key that activates zoom-in/zoom-out function of the 550D camera