Filter Stuck...

abelard · 07-09-2007 8:32am #1

OK hopefully I'm not the only one who's ever had this problem. I have a UV filter stuck on the front of a lens, and no amount of effort has proven successful in removing it.

I've tried just using my fingers (and hope I haven't damaged it this way), I've tried bracing it against a rubber mat, I've tried an elastic band around it, I've tried rubber gloves, I've even put it in the fridge for a few minutes, yet it remains fastly stuck.

Does anyone have any more tips for removing it, short of just going and buying a filter wrench thingy (expense = last resort!)?

rymus · 07-09-2007 9:03am

I was going to suggest elbow grease and plenty of it but it sounds like you've already been down that route. It's happened to me a few times and what I've done is to put another filter (or a ring from my cokin filter set) on top of it and somehow with a bit of struggling, they both come off. Course, then you've got two filters stuck together. They always seem much easier to seperate than filter from lens though.

I say scream at it for a few mins, then try again. While you're screaming, read here - http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/filter-stuck-on-lens.html

Might give you some ideas...

magicbastarder · 07-09-2007 9:18am

i'ne never had one stuck that hard, but anytime i've had to persuade one to come off, it's always been a case of applying pressure evenly around the ring. if you can find a rubberised power cable, it might be worth wrapping around it.

DaireQuinlan · 07-09-2007 9:22am

I've had a UV filter bound onto the front of one of my lens before, normally happens with metal filter threads as opposed to plastic. I'd head into camera exchange or gunns or something, chances are they'll be able to pop it off for you free of charge. Just applying pressure to two sides of the filter will probably either make it worse or crack the filter so don't use a pliers or wrench !

-edit- I got mine off eventually just by continuous 'jiggling' (a technical photography term) over the course of a couple of weeks, just tried every time I used the lens for a couple of minutes. Eventually either the environment was just right, or the planets were aligned, or the filter and lens had become dissillusioned with their previously intimate relationship or whatever, but it just smoothly screwed right off.

Cameraman · 07-09-2007 10:08am

Last time it happened to me (and it was really stuck) I found that the fridge for 30 mins combined with rubber gloves did the trick.

What I did was grip the filter edge and apply a little pressure. Rotate the lens a bit and repeat. After a few attempts at this, I felt a little 'give' in the filter, and shortly afterwards, it just unscrewed cleanly.

City-Exile · 07-09-2007 10:56am

I had one stuck before & found that I was applying too much presure.
A little "jiggling" & less forceful twisting did the trick.

daedalus2097 · 07-09-2007 11:13am

Maybe a teensy tiny bit of WD-40 might help, but don't try spraying it anywhere near the lens!! Spray it into a bottle cap or something and then use a pin or a small piece of wire to pick up tiny drops and spread them along the outside of the join. Leave it to soak in and try it then. Haven't done it with a lens/filter (yet) but it's proven a lifesaver with other delicate fittings I've had trouble separating in the past.

Beano · 07-09-2007 11:14am

you can buy filter wrenches for a couple of quid that will remove it.

They look like this Filter wrench

One of the camera shops in town is bound to have one

DaireQuinlan · 07-09-2007 11:16am

daedalus2097 wrote:

Maybe a teensy tiny bit of WD-40 might help, but don't try spraying it anywhere near the lens!! Spray it into a bottle cap or something and then use a pin or a small piece of wire to pick up tiny drops and spread them along the outside of the join. Leave it to soak in and try it then. Haven't done it with a lens/filter (yet) but it's proven a lifesaver with other delicate fittings I've had trouble separating in the past.

aaargh ! oil & lens = really really bad ! Even with the precautions above I wouldn't guarentee you wouldn't get it on the filter, or worse still, the lens. It'll smear all over the coating and be next to impossible to remove.

rymus · 07-09-2007 11:23am

Beano wrote:

One of the camera shops in town is bound to have one

Unless you live in Cork...

Rojo · 07-09-2007 11:35am

Oh that happened to me before. I had a polarising filter on my nifty fifty and I was getting ready to go into town to shoot a band... Couldn't get the stupid thing off, and I NEEDED it off because you lose a stop or so with that filter... My dad used a bit of seizel/twine and tied it around the filter and was able to coax it off that way!

Cabaal · 07-09-2007 11:38am

DaireQuinlan wrote:

aaargh ! oil & lens = really really bad ! Even with the precautions above I wouldn't guarentee you wouldn't get it on the filter, or worse still, the lens. It'll smear all over the coating and be next to impossible to remove.

I'd agree, oil sounds like a very very bad idea when it comes to lens, not clever

ThOnda · 07-09-2007 4:58pm

I have used bicycle spoke shaped to the diameter of the lense and hardened by sandpaper on the inside.

Fenster · 07-09-2007 5:45pm

I picked up a bottle cap remover in a dollar store that does a perfect job. It's a big rubber flexigrip job with different sizes. Excellent tool.

07-09-2007 6:06pm

I've been putting small bits of paper between the filter and the lens ,so I've go a little play when I want to get the filter off.

Might help things in future:)

ThOnda · 07-09-2007 6:07pm

Use FORCE! :-)

City-Exile · 07-09-2007 6:09pm

If you're willing to risk it, some washing-up liquid might do the trick.

decsramble · 07-09-2007 8:14pm

Same thing happened to me a couple of times while I was backpacking with a Fuji s9500. Twice I dropped the camera on its lens cap, twice it rammed the filter into the lens, twice i had to sit there and just use elbow grease to get the filter off. It took a while but I managed it in the end. I wouldnt recommend anything like oil, it's bound to get on the lens.

On the up side the s9500 still works fine, so two thumbs up for Fuji. :-)

City-Exile · 07-09-2007 8:19pm

decsramble wrote:

... so two thumbs up for Fuji. :-)

I'm glad to hear you actually have thumbs.
Was a bit worried there, when I read about your inability to hold onto your camera.

abelard · 07-09-2007 9:21pm

Update; persistence has left my thumb bright red, swollen and full of painful goo. My filter is still firmly attached to my lens.

Popped into a few of the shops in town, none of which stocked a filter wrench. One particular establishment recommended i take the lens/filter abomination in to them to be seen to with a hacksaw

leinsterman · 07-09-2007 10:06pm

Is there a chance the filter has become a bit misshapen ? ... this can happen if the filter had a bang ... if this is the case then part of the filter is pushing outwards against the threads and another part is pushed inwards ... no amount of pressure will release it ...you need to look for where the filter is dented in (could be very slight) ... gently ease it outwards with a pliers in the dented in area ...

Note this may ruin the filter ... but at least your lens will be Ok ... the key word is do it slowly and gently ...

Filter Stuck...

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