How to remove a stuck filter - 3 methods

[RocketNewYork]

If the worst has happened and you have a filter on your lens that refuses to budge you have several methods for removal. This worked on a Canon f1.2 85mm lens that got stuck last week.


The Grip Method 1

1, On a flat table, attach a rubber strap wrench to the filter, Your hand should be holding onto the lens from below.

2, Apply pressure and twist slowly.

3, If nothing happens, add small drops of Teflon to the seal between the lens and filter. Try not to get any on the rubber strap.


The Grip Method 2

1, Using a bench mounted clamp and round shim piece hold the filter face down. The filter should be very secure.

2, By hand, twist the lens the correct way.

3, If this doesn't work, try using the strap wrench.



Sawing the Filter Off

This is the most time consuming and risky approach. It should only be used when everything else has failed.

1, Take the lens off the camera.

2, Tape up the body with masking tape. This stops dust getting in.

3, Tap at the edges of the glass (not the centre) until broken. Using a glass cutter first to score the edges helps this.

4, Remove glass by pulling the parts outwards.

5, Pack the exposed glass lens with cotton pads or balls. Anything soft will do. You are wanting to stop metal filing getting in.

6, Using a fine, metal hacksaw cut into the filter metal. Make sure you don't cut into the lens! You should aim to make at least 8 evenly spaced cuts. This helps the filter flex and bend.

7, Using clamps, twist the filter until it pops out.

8, Remove all dust using a blower (not compressed air) and remove the tape. 


Keep in mind that with some lens the front element will want to unscrew. After you have removed the filter it is worth making sure the lens has not been pushed out of alignment. A proper focus check is worth while.

[schrodingerscat]

Coupla more tips -

Make sure you grip the lens as close to the filter as you can, zooming out to farthest point if aplicable. It is possible to damage the focus and zoom assemblies if too much twisting force is applied, especially with kit and lower end lenses.

First try using the flat of your hand on the full surface of the filter. Gripping the filter ring causes it to ovalise. A rubbery material works well in place of hand.

Household jar lid removal clamps are pretty close to the clamp wrenches used by techs. Use the part that's as close to the diameter of the filter as possible.

None of these will do much for a filter that's been cross threaded or the ring and mounting point dented. Be very careful when using the smash-glass method, as the front element can be close. Hold the lens upside down while doing this. Use diagonal cutters to clamp on the filter ring and give a quick twist, putting an 's' loop in it. This makes the ring smaller and you can usually unscrew it. On aluminum rings, you can sometimes cut through the ring with the dikes. Brass rings will usually put up a fight.

Try and avoid using any lubricants an any piece of photo gear, especially modern equipment. WD-40 is a Bozo nono.

Use body and rear lens caps, these usually come with gear. If you must use tape, clean the adhesive off before use.

Most techs charge a rather modest amount to do this service, or even for free if you purchase a replacement filter.

[Jason Denning]

My trick is using carpet, place the lens filter side down to the carpet, push the lest  from the back and twist and the carpet grips the filter so long as the filter has the little rough teeth and comes off. Works every time! Obviously useless if you don't have the rough filter front edge.

[schrodingerscat]

Just had an L come in yesterday, and worked out an alternative to the smashglass method that will work on some filters.

If the holding ring for the filter glass is on the outside, you can drive a small screwdriver(or equivalent) between the holding ring and the main ring and pop the holding ring out, allowing the filter glass to drop out.

[Mark F]

What's always worked for me is the poor man's version of the rubber strapped wrench, which is a wide rubber band wrapped around the filter. I then use RocketNewYork's suggestions for Grip Method 1.

[alexandru]

Hi everybody

How about an expensive slim polarized filter stuck? anybody any ideas beside breaking it?
It's on a 77mm thread, very small grip.

[Scott Hargis]

This is a constant problem for me, too. Are there no tricks that have been passed down over the decades? Smearing bacon grease on the threads? Sprinkling special herbs and chanting verses in Sanskrit? Anything?

I routinely mount a B+W ND grad filter onto the B+W UV filter on my favorite lens, and they *always* become fused. Especially difficult because the GND has a skinny little surface to grip with a lens wrench. What kills me is that when after many, many attempts, I finally get it loose, it happens almost effortlessly, as if I just needed to find that perfect grip and apply that perfect torque.

[Greg D]

Not a remedy, but a preventive - graphite.  Although squirting it out of the tube can be a little risky (more can come out than you want and go places you don't want), I've squirted some out on a piece of paper, then rolled a cotton swab in that and applied carefully to filter threads.  Seems to help.

[Kerry L]

I routinely mount a B+W ND grad filter onto the B+W UV filter on my favorite lens, and they *always* become fused. Especially difficult because the GND has a skinny little surface to grip with a lens wrench. What kills me is that when after many, many attempts, I finally get it loose, it happens almost effortlessly, as if I just needed to find that perfect grip and apply that perfect torque.

Scott,

I've heard many times that stacking filters is not the best technique due to reflections between the two glass surfaces, especially since one is a UV filter. I'm curious why do you need to do that?

As far as your experience of the filters finally coming loose without effort, I wonder if one of the rings is being distorted, perhaps from over tightening or bottoming out. Maybe you have gripped it at a spot which un-distorts (?? is that a word ) the ring which then easily releases.

[NancyP]

rubber band or rubber jar opener grip, found in kitchen stores.

[lfeagan]

While I have not tried this, I only noticed this post today and instantly an idea popped into my head based on some tools I have used on various pieces of machinery. On small machinery, there are often times parts that are screwed into various plates. Some of these parts are tightened/loosened by a manufacturer-provided "wrench" that looks more like a single beaver tooth at the end of a quarter-circle. This "tooth" is inserted into a single hole in the part which allows you to apply rotational torque. Overall, these tools look about like you took a traditional open-ended wrench, cut off 1/2 and then welded on a round "tooth" at the end of the remaining elbow of the wrench.

To apply this same idea to removal of a tricky filter, a small hole could be drilled into the side of the filter (metal) and then a strong metal rod could be used to rotate the filter. The rod could be bent into a hook that would be inserted into the hole. The basic idea here is to substitute friction for a mechanical link allowing you to apply rotational torque to the outer-edge of the filter.

[FredBGG]

Lens filter wrenches are the way to go.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Camera-Lens-Filter-Wrench-2-Set-49mm-58mm-67mm-77mm-72-/360362813560

[lfeagan]

Lens filter wrenches are the way to go.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Camera-Lens-Filter-Wrench-2-Set-49mm-58mm-67mm-77mm-72-/360362813560

Very nice. And so inexpensive for a set.

[Scott Hargis]

Nice. Thanks for the collective wisdom on this!
I've been using a lens wrench, but to no avail....and I'm a pretty strong guy. I have to say I think Kerry's theory of a distorted ring sounds likely. After enough trial and error, I eventually grip the filter at the perfect spot and relieve the tension, and suddenly it turns freely. Maybe all I need is a new filter.

@ Kerry --- if you can tell me how to use (for example) a grad ND along with a CP filter, without stacking them....I'm all ears. Only solution I know of is to use rectangular filters, which is what I'm transitioning to.

[JimAscher]

I had to remove a soft focus filter recently from an old lens with crushed threads on the lens.  I used my heat gun at low temperature briefly on the juncture between filter and lens and the filter unscrewed readily.  This worked fine for me this once, but I'm leery of recommending it for anything more than a possible last resort.  Perhaps a hair dryer would work as well. 

[jmlphotography]

I was shooting with a mechanical engineer once when a filter got stuck.   He got it off a in a flash.  His method: tighten slightly first, then un-tighten. I suspect this worked because of the distortion problem others have mentioned.