This is the second time its happend. After having used my Letus and dismounting it from the Camera the UV filter on the Camera gets jammed.

When I mount the Letus it's not so tightly mounted, but the UV filter is virtually impossible to remove using hands.

This time, I'm unable to remove the UV filter using my hands and as much might as is feasible. So is there a trick or tool or something for this purpose?

I need to clean the Camera Lens and UV filter.

The UV filter is a Hoya UV filter.


Thanks.

Shiv.

There is a tool

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/251749-REG/General_Brand__Filter_Wrench_Set_of.html

and a trick..

try wrapping a thick rubber band around the filter and twist it. it should grip it. you can also use a kitchen rubber glove..or one of those rubber discs to open jars with.

if the cam was outside in the heat, just wait for it to cool off and it will also be easier to remove.

You can also try placing your palm over the front of the filter and press while twisting, as opposed to gripping by the edges.

When it's stuck, and you try to grip harder on the edges, you deform the circumference and make it even harder to remove.

Try the front side approach.

-gb-

The camera was not in the heat so that's not it.

Thank you both for your replies! It's is mcuh appreciated.

Now I've tried the following:
1. Front side approach
2. Special rubber mat that one uses to open bottles.
3. Front side approach using the rubber mat.
4. I cooled the metal ring of the UV filter by placing it over an ice bag and tried the above approaches once again.

The only option left now is to buy the wrench.

Wow. Did a gorilla put it on there for you?

You may have bent it trying to get it off.

My filters are always getting stuck, but a rubber band always does the trick.
I just carry one in my filter pouch. The kind the Post Office uses.

I've never used the wrench, but I've heard it works very well.

I've always been able to get one off by the method suggested above--placing my palm down, pressing and twisting--totally avoiding squeezing the filter. Laying one of those jar opening rubber mats can help if it's really stuck, but you can't squeeze the sides at all.

This is the precise reason B+W says they make their filter rings out of brass and not aluminum. The aluminum binds, and B+W says that the brass won't.

I believe this is true, at least in part.

The camera was not in the heat so that's not it.

Thank you both for your replies! It's is mcuh appreciated.

Now I've tried the following:
1. Front side approach
2. Special rubber mat that one uses to open bottles.
3. Front side approach using the rubber mat.
4. I cooled the metal ring of the UV filter by placing it over an ice bag and tried the above approaches once again.

The only option left now is to buy the wrench.


Hi Shiv. Cooling the filter will make it contract and stick even more. How about heating it with a hot wet face cloth or small towel? You can put a piece of cling film over the lens first to keep it dry.

Richard

Amen to the last post. Shiv, you need to apply a small amount of heat. I don't know about using water on a cloth, but try using a simple hair dryer. Turn on the hair dryer then put your hand in front of it to make sure it cannot burn you but it should be almost hot. Then point towards the UV filter metal ring and rotate the blow dryer around it until the ring feels almost hot, or very warm. Then put the hair dryer down and proceed to twist it off. I would say this will work. Good luck. John

John, Richard,

I thought since the filter screws inside the camera's lens it needs to contract rather than expand.

I'll try the heating method.

I've had some luck with the 'oil filter wrench' approach. Basically, get yourself one of those plastic cable tie-wraps. ONe that is long enough to go all the way around the filter, and through the lock-end, and leave a good inch or two proturding.

Wrap the tie-wrap COUNTER CLOCKWISE around the filter. In other words, when you pull the end through the lock, you should be pulling it through a counter clockwise direction.

Grasp the free end with a pair of pliers and pull tightly. It will 'tighten the wrap around the filter, and if you are pulling on a tangent, also pull the filter in a counter clockwise direction.

Good luck.

Eric,

When I screwed th efilter on it was just normal tight. But the screwing the Letus on seems to make it over tight. This is happened twice now and both times, I've had the Letus mounted and then removed it.

The first time I did notice that the filter was turning while screwing on the Letus. When I later dismounted the Letus and tried unscrewing the filter the filter was jammed. After a lot of patients and effort it came off that time. I was on a shoot and needed to clean the filter and lens.

Being back from the shoot and noticing a lot of spots on (against sunlight) the filter/lens on parts of some footage I took at the end with the Letus off, I decided to clean the filter and lens and found that filter jammed again.

I've even tried pressing the camera onto a thick mouse pad with the rubber disk for opening bottles and the like over it (the mouse pad) and hold the rubber disk and pad in place with one hand and twisting the camera with the other to no avail.

I'm going to take it in to a Ritz Camera tomorrow. They said they may be able to help (they don't have a filter wrench however).

Richard,

I have a few cable ties lying around somewhere. I'll give that a shot too.

Thanks.

I got it off! Whew!

I have a thin strap for a lens bag (kind of like a camera strap). I strung it around the filter (like the wrench, cabel tie etc. would go), pulled the ends really tight between thumb and index finger and unsrewed. It took a bit of effort but it came off.

Thank you everyone for all the ideas and help. I feel much better now.

Jack, what/who is B+W? The filter in use is a Hoya filter (glass with obviously a metal ring). The real issue is screwing on a Letus like device onto the filter. It seems to tighten the filter while it is being screwed on.

Well, that's good info for those using the Letus and a UV filter.
I guess you'll be leaving it a few stops loose next time.

Buy the wrench anyway. For normal filter issues, the rubber band should work most of the time.

As for applying progressive methods of hot and cold to the camera, just be careful with it. All I meant earlier was to allow the camera to naturally adjust to the temp that the filter was applied. That's not going to work in your case right now.

Jack, what/who is B+W? The filter in use is a Hoya filter (glass with obviously a metal ring). The real issue is screwing on a Letus like device onto the filter. It seems to tighten the filter while it is being screwed on.

B+W is the filter brand sold by Schneider. They are made in Germany of high quality glass. Most of them are made with German brass rings. In many cases, the brass prevents binding -- that is the threads run smoothly, unlike aluminum. (In a few markets, the ring may be made out of an alloy other than brass, but if the filter is bought in a major market from a major seller, such as B&H, the ring is brass.)

The brass can be put on tight, but once the pressure is off the threads, it runs free. Aluminum binds all along the threads, like sandpaper rubbing together.

In the past I have always used the standard aluminum (and some are better than others) aluminum ring filters. For my XH-A1 I bought a B+W UV 010 MRC (multi resistant coating). The threads do run noticeably differently.

One thing, the brass is heavier than the aluminum. I also have a Century UV filter, in a sturdy aluminum ring, and it works fine, but the brass ring is noticeably different.

The little filter wrenches are also helpful.

Regarding using temperature, it is heat that will cause the outer ring to expand more than the inner ring will and loosen the connection.

Generally, though, I believe it is the binding of the aluminum that causes the greatest bond when the filter is screwed in tight.

The B+W brass is especially nice for step-up rings... though the B+W brass rings cost 2-3 times what an aluminum step-up ring costs. Howeve, the aluminum filter against an aluminum step-up ring is especially prone to binding.

Shiv I use a Hoya UV filter with my A1 never had a problem but don't use a letus if you use your letus with that filter again try putting the filter on the letus first.

Alan

Eric,

I'm pretty sure when I put the UV filter on it was seated just tight. It's mounting an adapter that makes it overly tight. But yes, a wrench is a must in my kit.

Alan, I don't believe the filter is at fault. In my mind it's the combination of a filter with an adapter (and possibly an aluminum ring rather than brass).

Jack, thank you for the details and information.

Shiv.

Again, going back to my roots as an equipment tech in the semiconductor industry, I recommend using heat on the outer surface or, cold on the inner surface.

We used to have many issues with stainless screws getting bound up in aluminum pieces. We would use a combination of component freeze spray to really contract the screw, along with squirting isopropyl alcohol to lubricate and provide evaporative cooling to break them loose. Even then, we weren't always successful because they'd been subjected to the heat and by products of sputtering aluminum onto wafers. But that method gave us the highest success rate.

The brass threads are a good idea. Sounds like I'll have to look for the B+W filters next time.

-gb-