Nauticam have announced the release of a special version of its housing for the Canon 5D Mark III camera, the NA-5DMKIII Deep, designed for extended range technical diving to depths of 150m.

The current Nauticam product line is designed to function flawlessly at depths up to 100m.  This supports the majority of recreational and technical divers, but cutting edge exploration teams are pushing further. NA-5DMKIII Deep, with its 150m depth rating, will fast become the tool of choice for documenting these expeditions.

The NA-5DMKIII Deep is designed to go way beyond conventional depths. This housing is rated to 150m (500ft), 50% deeper than the standard housing. The pressure at this depth is an astonishing 16 times the pressure we feel at sea level. Nauticam engineers have increased the wall thickness of the housing to make it more rigid, and to reduce the kind of torsion that cause controls to bind or fail. Each control has been carefully upgraded in terms of strength to function under the increased pressure, and the two command dials received special attention with a proprietary process to maintain ease of operation at depth.

This housing is functionally the same as it’s sibling, the NA-5DMKIII. It is slightly heavier due to the additional thickness of the housing walls, but the difference is barely noticeable. It features the same ergonomics that have made the Nauticam 5D Mark III housing a popular housing among professional underwater image makers.

It’s one thing to engineer and test a deep rated housing in the lab. It’s quite another to actually take it diving and demonstrate it. This video does just that—watch as the housing goes to over 150m and functions flawlessly, bringing back both still and video images from that extreme depth:

[vimeo id=”107487274″ width=”100%” height=”400px”]

Nauticam commissioned the professionals at DiveTech in Grand Cayman to conduct this test. The test was organized by Steve Tippetts, DiveTech’s training director, and carried out by renowned technical divers Phil Short and Gemma Smith.

Ports

Special consideration must be given to the selection of ports used at these depths. In general, smaller acrylic ports are preferable to larger glass ports. For the dive chronicled in the video above, the port of choice was the Nauticam 4.33″ port, using the Extension Ring 30 with Lock.

Warning

Deep diving requires special training, procedures, equipment, and experience.

Details and Specifications

• Depth Rating:  150m
• Weight: 2.9kg
• Dimensions:  353mm x 187mm x 133mm (13.9in x 7.4in x 5.2in)

Model Number: 17317

More information is available from Nauticam USA at www.nauticamusa.com.

USA Dealer List: www.nauticamusa.com/nauticam-dealers

Worldwide Dealer List: www.nauticam.com/dealer02.asp