So... The Filter Won't Come Off

No. I have had some cross-threaded retaining rings that could not be removed with the most powerful spanner.

Dremel. But only as a last resort.
 
In extreme cases I've removed the glass by bending and the removing the glass retaining ring, then bending the remaining filter ring towards the center with pliers.
 
I had a camera fall off a motorcycle seat, not it's lens. The filter was dented and the filter glass was cracked. No amount of pinching and turning was effective. This was an extreme case.
 
FrankS said:
I had a camera fall off a motorcycle seat, not it's lens. The filter was dented and the filter glass was cracked. No amount of pinching and turning was effective. This was an extreme case.
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agreed...bit i am talking about the stuck filter in the first post...
 
Thanks for the freezer recommendation. I had 2 filters a UV and a thin circular polarizer that I thought were permanently mated. The CPL has no ring sticking out front and the rotation of it made things impossible. But after 10 minutes in the freezer and another minute playing - they are unstuck! Not sure if I would have put a lens in the freezer, but a couple of filters... yep! And I set a timer, I too have left a bottle or beer too long try to quickly cool it. Beer slushies are not very good.
 
FrankS said:
When trying to remove a filter normally by grasping it with your thumb and fingers, you deform the filter out of round. When a filter is stuck, you squeeze harder and deform the filter more, binding it even tighter to the lens. The trick is to exert a rotational force without inducing a squeezing/deforming force.
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+1. Rubber band or jar lid thingie for me.
 
I find that the less force I apply when I turn the easier it is to remove it. Try to overcome the urge to apply force on it.

FrankS said:
When trying to remove a filter normally by grasping it with your thumb and fingers, you deform the filter out of round. When a filter is stuck, you squeeze harder and deform the filter more, binding it even tighter to the lens. The trick is to exert a rotational force without inducing a squeezing/deforming force.
Click to expand...
 
Chris101 said:
They make a textured rubber pad for removing stuck jar lids (sold in kitchen stores.) I have always been able to remove filters that were stuck beyond all other methods using one of these.
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^This...
also, my message is apparently too short to post...so here's a smiley :)
 
I got a lens with a Tiffen UV filter, and a collapsable rubber hood on it, and the hood would not seperate from the filter. The hood would not allow me a decent grip, and using two filter wrenches didn't work either (anyone know a supplier of good filter wrenches, not the cheap plastic ones like I have?). Since I have never cared for collapsable hoods, I tore the rubber off, then tried again, only to have the UV filter come off the lens with the hood ring.

At this point, I went into the kitchen to get my bottle cap opener, which is a multiple-sized unit that looks like a big four-hole filter wrench. This would grip the filter or ring, but I still could not get a purchase on the other. So about two weeks later, I found another one in the store, took it home, used both wrenches, and they worked! Turned out the hood ring was bent, but the filter was good and round. After doing some pounding on the ex-hood ring, I got it back into round, just in case I want to use it for something else.

PF
 
I have a B+W MRC UV filter stuck on a Summarit-M lens. This is a problem because the filter needs to come off to remove the "protection ring" in order that the screw-on hood (the protection ring uses the hood threads and is basically there to give the standard front cap something to hold onto) can be fitted.

Have tried rubber gloves and the sole of my training shoes to no avail. Today I took it to the nearest Leica dealer and it defeated them too. Before I send it off to CRR Luton (for a stuck filter!) does anyone have any other ideas? The filter has been on and off before although it never screwed in as smoothly as a cheap Hoya one did.

I think the moral is: brass filters for brass lenses, alu filters for alu lenses.
 
Just a thought, but if you have a good suction cup, maybe you can put that on the face of the filter and then turn that. Would prevent you from gripping the ring and forcing it out of shape. Just a thought...
 
A suction cup would just twist off as even gaffer tape just rips. The only thing left to try (gingerly) is thermal expansion, because the alu lens should expand more than the brass filter. As I say, this one has defeated the Leica dealer.
 
Try a strap wrench available at most hardware stores. They work in the kitchen too on vacuum sealed lids put on w/ 500 ft. lbs. of torque.
 
There's not enough space for one of those to grip. The B+W filters have a pretty low profile. Also, the knurling on the filter ring is on the side bevel rather than on the front face, so it doesn't help much when using the rubber pad method. In any case, I feel I'm already applying more force than is good for the focusing helicoid and it needs a cleverer solution. If the worst comes to the worst I imagine the lens can be dismantled to protect the internals and then massive forces can be applied to the front of the barrel and the filter.
 
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