I have the brevis35 on my JVC GY HD 100, which gives me great joy and dof.

This requires a step down ring to from 72-82mm.

The other day I took off the brevis35, and found the step down ring is on so tight I can't get it off. Wont even budge. 3 different guys tried. I tried latex gloves to get more traction, nothing. Like it's superglued on.

I've taken the step down ring off before, and I know I didn't put it on all that tightly. I'm guessing putting the adapter on screwed it on even tighter?

Anyone have any tips on getting the step down ring off?? I'm worried about so rough with it I'm going to break it.

An odd question I guess, but I figure people must have encountered it before.

I suppose depending on how the barrell and ring of the Brevis are you could use two rubber strap wrenches like a plumber would use on pipe.

Wish you the best.

Is the stepdown ring jammed on the Brevis or in front of JVC lens?

It's jammed on the jvc lens, thanks.

So I'm worried about getting rough on it, and it's attached to my lens.

Never really had to deal with the problem to the extreme you are, but here are two things...

Once I was struggling with a "stuck filter", but I calmed down and I tried real gently and it came off (I did find one other website that recommended this same thing, so I'm not totally crazy recommending that).

The other is to maybe check these out, I've never used them, but it sounds like you are getting desperate:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home;jsessionid=AzaXioLS6T!1128060492?ci=1&sb=ps&pn=1&sq=desc&InitialSearch=yes&O=SearchBar&A=search&Q=*&shs=filter+wrench

Heck... after reading some of these other posts I'm thinking it may be worth your time to read it too:

http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=008M2j

sounds like you've crossed threaded it.
try the back of a mouse pad. the flimsy kind. i do it all the time. you've probably stripped the threads. life will be okay.

Thanks- I might hold off now trying to remove it, as I'm going to need to keep the adapter for another week. I'm worried I won't get the ring back on.

The key to getting it off is to not squeeze it.

Something that I've done many times is to take something with lots of grip (the soft mouse pad or even some of the rubbery shelf liner) and put it against something hard and flat that is larger than the ring. Gently press the rubber up against the ring and give it a turn. It should come right off.

My camera has nothing sticking beyond the lens so I take a piece of shelf liner and place it on my kitchen counter then "nose" the camera with the stuck ring down onto the liner and give a twist. Works for me every time.

This happens pretty often when I use polarizers. A days worth of twisting can get the rings pretty tight.

Chris has pretty much got it covered.

Another trick you can try is to freeze the mouse mat or rubber sheet and whatever it is you are resting the mouse mat upon. A copper based cooking pot is a good contender

Place the face or front-edge of the step-up ring against the bottom of the upturned cooking pot to chill the step-up ring, then lift it off, place the mount mat on the bottom of the pot, then press and twist the lens anticlockwise. Maybe put a small wad of Kleenex tisue against the front glass of the lens to avoid shock cooling.

If this does not work, you can try fitting the Brevis back up to the ring until it comes up snug, maybe even a little bit tight. Have somebody hold the lens for you. Then wedge your fingers in between the Brevis body and the face of the step-up ring and use the Brevis itself plus your finger pressure to turn the ring anticlockwise. The object of having your fingertips in there is to add edge pressure to load the threads to higher friction between the Brevis and the step-up ring.

The extra friction of the Brevis threads on the inside plus your finger wedges and the Brevis body keeping the ring round, may be just enough for you to shift it.


Good luck with it.

freezing might be the key word. I don't know if it will work, but I would try to use the different physical properties of the different materials. I am not familiar with the parts you have problems with, so I can't tell more.

Metal has a bigger expansion coefficient than e.g. plastic. So when you cool down metal, it will shrink more, while plastic will shrink less. Also, different metal alloys have different expansion coefficients. Changing temperature will give you some nanometers of difference.

It really depends on that expansion coefficient, maybe the opposite (heating) is the answer.

Sorry about my broken English, but I think you get the point. Good luck.

Another desperate measure I hesitate to suggest is to find a stainless steel carpenter's rule. Make it absoutely clean of any oil or grease.

Find yourself a very fine art brush.

Find yourself some canola or olive oil, no mineral oils at all.

Make paper disk to cover the lens glass and cover the glass over with the paper and bits of stickytape to hold it there.

Buy yourself some superglue.

Paint a very fine line of the oil along the junction of the front of the filter ring and camcorder front face. This is to prevent the superglue from getting at the plastic on the camcorder if there is an accidental spill.

Give this oil a half-hour or so to creep in under the ring. This may be enough to enable you to turn the ring by the previously mentioned methods.

Squeeze out a drop of superglue onto some inert surface you can throw away afterwards.

Use a pin head to pick up a covering of superglue. Put several spots on the ring over an area the ruler would contact. Do not let it roll over the edge onto the threads as it will wick along into the junction. The oil will only confer partial protection which is why you have to be very sparing with the superglue and not use too much.

Place the ruler on a flat surface.

Place the camcorder face down with the stuck ring contacting the rule and maintain pressure until the glue sets.

Allow the glue to mature then hopefully there will be enough bond between the ring and the ruler for you to be able to screw the filter ring out, using the same method of face down onto the mousepad. This will avoid failing the glue joint progressively by peeling off as the ruler flexes.

Once the ring comes out, you may be able to peel the ruler off by bending it slightly. If the ring looks like becoming bent, you can try instead to dissolve the superglue with some acetone or shove the ring and the rule in an approx 180degree oven for a while to fail the glue with heat.

Whatever you do, keep the superglue away from the glass. The vapours may damage the optical coating on the lens.

If you have a 'zip tie' or 'cable tie' you can wrap that counter clockwise around the ring. Grasp the loose end with a pair of needle-nose. Pull counter clockwise - works just like an oil filter wrench because as you pull, it tightens evenly.

good luck

just an update sort of.... I tried everything mentioned, including supergluing a ruler to the ring. Nothing worked. The ruler came right off. Cable ties, plumbers wrenches, nothing. Doesn't even begin to budge.

mouse pad?

just an update sort of.... I tried everything mentioned, including supergluing a ruler to the ring. Nothing worked. The ruler came right off. Cable ties, plumbers wrenches, nothing. Doesn't even begin to budge.

Wow.. I'm surprised. That ring must be really stuck!

The rubber mouse pad or shelf liner always worked for me. I have no idea what to recommend next. A dremel comes to mind but that is a scary proposition.

Here is the solution I discovered by accident after struggling with these things many times.

Put on a pair of rubber (or latex whatever those things are) dishwashing gloves and remove the filter in seconds. Maybe those painters latex gloves would also work.
In fact I keep forgetting to put one in my kit. They grab the metal real good.

Also I used to put a very thin strip of gaffers or camera tape around the filter and that would help as well. it really is a bear of a problem.

If this works for you please paypal $10 to the email address below as I might be able to retire from this one discovery alone.

NSLL@pacbell.net

If it doesn't work burst my bubble and send me back to the drawing boards for an alternate get rich quick scheme.



Lenny Levy

Can you perhaps post an image of this thing so I can see what I am dealing with. The will is there. The way is elusive for the time being.

here's one photo

another one. It's flush against the lens. The best results have been with the latex gloves - I can get a grip, and it doesn't just slip off. But if won't budge.

The encouraging thing about this is that it is most likely face contact friction which suggests the threads are not stripped. It is also dead square-on which means to me the threads are not crossed. When the thing gives way it will likely let go with a click.

With metal there are always high points and low points and a bind is gradual. Plastic is compliant and will crush ever so slightly. Perfectly matching surfaces will almost bond together.

The sort of pressure you are having to apply is probably causing the plastic shroud around the lens to flex alarmingly which will be deterring from more violence.

So how to disturb that bond?

In an ideal world I would drill two small holes in the front face of the step-up ring so that I could then use a Rolyn lens spanner on it. I would mount the Rolyn spanner in a bench vice and use my hands to hold and twist the lens body by holding the plastic rim of the lens which is presently surrounding the step-up ring, not by holding the lens body itself.

Because of the way that shroud has been molded, twisting by using the solid part of the lens body may be distorting the shroud itself and the more pressure you apply, then more friction build-up until you retire, fearful and defeated.

I would likely also try putting a high quality stainless turbocharger hose clip around the outside of the plastic shroud and tighten that down, so that there is a little bit of compression on the threaded surface inside, then remove it again to hopefully disturb the face contact. Take care to observe that the portion of the hose clip which lies rearward of where the step-up ring reaches, does not crush the plastic too much otherwise it might crack around the rear of the thread.

I would move the clip about 30 degrees and retighten and loosen it which would force an oval distortion on the plastic several times and possibly also disturb the face bond that way. I would repeat this as many times as it takes to go the full 360 degrees around the shroud, maybe 720 degrees for good luck. This will give you four cycles of distortion. That rotation should also be in the unscrewing direction, ie., clockwise for the lens shround relative to the ring itself which screws out anticlockwise as faced from the front.

I would then remove the hose clip entirely. Leaving it on to use as a grip would likely add friction on the threads which is not wanted.

You could also try unscrewing the ring as you loosen the hose clip. You might just score lucky.

Rolyn lens spanners are not cheap and the drilling would have to be very precise with milldrill or good quality drill press. No handheld B & Ds or Dremels this time.

Another thing you can try again is the super glue adhesive onto the front of the ring, but using the entire surface instead of the ruler.

Dress the front face of the ring with some Jif or Ajax abrasive cleaner to remove any oils left over from machining or preserving oils or fractions from shipping packaging. It is also likely to be an anodised surface which does not always bond well.

When you dress the front surface, use a piece of old glass, a piece of machined metal or a machined metal surface like the base of a cooking pot to rub against. Clean off the jif or ajax. Give it a wipe over with a tissue or cloth with a trace of solvent, thinners or even petrol (okay. I should say gasolene), to remove any residual oils.

Find the piece of machined flat metal or the pot base itself if it is a fine surface finish. Clean all oils of that also.

Apply enough super glue to the face of the ring to ensure a full face contact. Glue this to the piece of flat metal or the machined base of the pot you used for a dressing surface.

Let it cure as before, place the combination with the pot topside down onto a bench, then try to rotate the lens off the ring without tilting the lens sideways and breaking the glue bond.

Getting the ring off the piece of metal or bottom of the pot will be another new game. Boiling water in it on top of a stove for an hour or so should degrade the bond, otherwise soaking the thing in acetone acetone may shift it. If you have used a piece of metal, then you may use higher temps to degrade the superglue.

You should assume that the ring may become unserviceable.


The other alternative I guess is to just leave the ring in place and buy another for the Brevis.

If you were in Australia, I would say send it to me, no guarantee of success of course, but Boston Massachusetts is a whole other world away.

Quite a while ago i got a step up or down ring (don't remember which from Cinevate that was defective. I assume it was just a bad ring, but if your came form the same source its possible it was from the same batch. Mine was very tight going on and I felt slightly wary about screwing it in. I wish I had trusted my instincts.

Well i couldn't get that off either and I ended up going to a repair man who had to score some lines into it and then use a tool to get it off. Cost me $40. Be careful doing it yourself because you don't want to screw up your HVX lens. A repair man might just have better luck in general as he's probably faced many many of these.

Damn - no $10 I guess.

Lenny

i know this may sound like an insult, but, are you turning it the "right" way?

Nother new wrinkle?


If the ring was stiff due to misfit going into the threads and was forced to get it tightened in, some of the plastic may have come off on localised hot spots due to friction and become fused to the threads.

In the case of aluminium this is called galling. It is therefore possible for the threads to strip if the ring is removed forceably as there may be pinpoints of plastic attached to the threads on the ring which will move against the filter mount threads and peel them away.

You might want to try giving a few glancing whacks to the ring in the direction of it coming off with a wooden spoon or something. Nothing hard enough to damage the lens, but maybe enough to break the friction seal between the ring and the lens.

Then try to turn with the rubber gloves.

Good luck!

The sound of the moving groups inside rupturing out of the guide tracks rings in my ears as I reprise this suggestion in my mind.

If one becomes irremediably moved to play slogie with a lens, then adjust the moving group to its rearmost position by zooming-in all the way, then coming back off a fraction so end stops don't clash when the fatal blow is struck.

More better would be to dismantle the optical components from the control grip and the filter holder sub-assembly before applying shock tactics.

Actually the plastic sub assembly on front of this lens might cushion impacts and isolate them a little from the optical body but it is not something I would care to try.

i know this may sound like an insult, but, are you turning it the "right" way?

Well, I'd taken it on and off a couple of times. I even tried slightly turning it the other way to see if I was having some senior moment. Had another try turning it.

Dennis.

If it has been on and off a few times, then polish and tight gripping or bonding of the front face of the filter mount and the rear face of the step-up ring might still be where the problem is. If the threads had fused it would have been on the first try when the plastic threads in the filter holder dressed and conformed to the metal threads on the step-up ring.

My inclination would still be to try using the hose clip to compress the plastic shoulder around the filter thread a few times as I describe above to disturb that face contact less violently.

The sound of the moving groups inside rupturing out of the guide tracks rings in my ears as I reprise this suggestion in my mind.

Dang, Bob. GENTLE whack! Baby taps, even. The wooden spoons must be bigger and heavier in Australia :-)

To me, the Crazy Glue suggestion was much scarier. I wouldn't go within 20 feet of my equipment with that stuff.

Baby taps. - I would then just go around the entire circumference of the ring and tap it more directly inwards with some brushing motion to it, going around the ring anti-clockwise, sort of I guess along the lines of your suggestion, after taking precautions with the lens barrel of course to avoid things rattling wrongly inside.

Wooden spoons. They looked awful cruelbad big when I was a kid and they came out for some corporal punishment. That was my aunt's weapon of choice.

More commonly I came in for the fly swatter on the legs from my mother, complete with mashed flies on it and a case slat on the arse from my father if I pushed my luck. In truth I did not cop it too many times. The threat was enough.

None of them believed in the strap which one or two other neighbourhood kids got for their misdeeds, livid red tramtracks which were not a good look.

I sold a macro lens to somebody on the forums here with a step-up ring still attached to it, as I couldn't get it off regardless of what I tried. He said he'd take care of it--he ended up taking a saw to it.

Those step rings are bad news.

I sold a macro lens to somebody on the forums here with a step-up ring still attached to it, as I couldn't get it off regardless of what I tried. He said he'd take care of it--he ended up taking a saw to it.

Those step rings are bad news.

Well, the GY HD100 has a detachable lens, I guess the worst case scenario is I just need to buy another one for a few grand, or whatever they go for these days... Maybe just go for the GY HD200.

Anyway, thanks for everyone's suggestions. I'll try the hose clip, probably take a day to get around to picking one up and trying it.

a bit confused now. was this attached to your camera or the brevis?
i've never actually had a problem like yours, but i have turned it the wrong way when trying to take something off without thinking and making it extremely hard to take off afterwards. did you buy this ring from brevis or somewhere else?

a bit confused now. was this attached to your camera or the brevis?
i've never actually had a problem like yours, but i have turned it the wrong way when trying to take something off without thinking and making it extremely hard to take off afterwards. did you buy this ring from brevis or somewhere else?

The ring is attached to the camera. The ring is from brevis.

I've taken it on and off a couple times with no problem. The day this happened we were in the middle of shooting. Put the ring and the brevis on like I had many times before (well, a couple times - I only had it 2 weeks before this).

At the end of the day, I took off the brevis with no problem. Went to take off the ring, and it wouldn't budge. My thought was putting the brevis turns the ring a bit in the same direction, so maybe putting the brevis on tight, tightened the ring as well?

i think it's cross threaded. it may seem like it went on easy and since the brevis is such a big rig, screwing it in, just didn't notice it. and when you put it back on to take it off, probably tightened it even more. so, who knows really. if people have had problems with brevis rings before, i'd stay away. you can find them for 5dollars anyway at your local camera shop or online.

Yeah, it's getting to the point I might just get another lens. When I need the adapter, I'll just put on the lens with the permanently attached step down ring.

Although $3,000 is what I've found for a new fujinin Th17x5. Lot of money for a problem caused by a $40 step down ring.

Rich, I had a definitely defective ring. It was obvious to me before I put it on, so don't start spreading rumors about defective rings from cinevate, theya re buying the same rings you can get anywhere. I only raised it as possibility that there was a bad lot but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Dennis - I repeat what i said earlier - before you buy a new lens, a camera repair man can remove this for you.

lenny levy

yes because I just went to every thread on every board here and spread the rumor about rings from cinevate? it could've been a bad batch for all we know...but still, they're pretty easy to get everywhere else, it's not like he has to get it from cinevate.

Well, I dropped it off at a local camera repair store. We'll see.

Even if they get it off, what about the future? If it's a defective ring, I guess I buy a new one, and if the new one isn't defective, great. But every time I put it on, I have to wonder if the thing will ever come off?

Like the vultures over a lizard carcass, I guess some of us, well maybe just one of us, will be waiting for a report on the final outcome.

If you regail the lens repairman with some of the suggestions offered, his reaction may be something along the lines of "They what??" "It was a good thing you brought it to me son."

Here's hoping it will work out, with a good lens and step-up ring.

We've had zero complaints on our step down rings, and we make them ourselves so our quality control is very good. The 82-72 and 77-72 step down rings can be problematic as they have limited grip room on them and if tightened with the Brevis attached, can be stuck with a fairly high torque given the thread size. We have rubber faced snug fitting work gloves here that work like a charm on stuck rings. A more drastic measure is to apply a small amount of crazy glue to a sacrificial 72mm ring and screw it onto the 82-72 ring. That will provide much more grip area. We can send you a replacement 82-72 at no cost.

Cheers,
Dennis Wood

email sent!

Should be in your hands tomorrow afternoon :-)

New ring happily received.

Got a call from the repair shop, they got it off apparently. Must ask them how they did it.

I hope it was not two vicegrip pliers clamped on the front of the ring and a lever to turn them. Just kidding. They likely did the cure suggested back in this thread of cutting two slots then using a flat blade or lens spanner to move the ring.

I hope it was not two vicegrip pliers clamped on the front of the ring and a lever to turn them. Just kidding. They likely did the cure suggested back in this thread of cutting two slots then using a flat blade or lens spanner to move the ring.


LOL.

Well, the tech who did the work was not in when I picked it up. The guy behind the counter thought he did it with some type of wrench. There are no marks on the ring or the lens, so I guess he just used a lot of elbow grease and some tools.

So I feel like a total wuss for not getting it off myself, but it was $41 dollars, which is a lot less then a new fujinon lens.

I guess he did not have all the baggage of our collective of suggested remedies and harbingers of disaster frightening the tripes out of him.

So uninhibited by fear, not consumed with dread and supremely confident in his own abilities, he probably strapped on a wrench and gave it about 0.555 more kp of pressure than you did.

Maybe it just slipped off in his fingers and he said to himself, "Mmmh this was easy. I wonder what he was on about".

Truth is, life is so much easier with the right tools and the right knowing of how to go about it.

The good news of course - it's cured. You'll be running about carefully like a kid with the plaster off the broken leg for a few days but you will get your confidence back.

Yeah, for now I guess I can put the ring on very lightly, then put the brevis on.

Somebody suggested getting the ring on the brevis (semi)permanently, which is fine as long I use the brevis with an 82mm lens.

Hey, guess what?

I put the brand new ring Dennis Wood sent me on the adapter, then I put it on the lens. I was careful not to screw the ring on too tight.

Fine, but after awhile I adjusting the adapter, and I could feel it sudden got on a little tight. I unscrewed the adapter, and the ring wouldn't budge.


Right back where I started, and back to the camera shop, apparently.

So... I guess permanently attach the step down to the adapter? That's all I can think of. I can't see how to use this thing if it costs a few days and $40 to get the thing off.

I was having trouble only with cheap aluminum rings from china (Denis says that he is building yours so this is probably unrelated ) they usualy stuck very bad, but sometimes after a few days or weeks they unscrew like they was never stuck. My brass rings never stuck. I have brass rings on a places that need to be unscrewed more often. I have also noticed that temperature and aluminum oxyde is main reason why aluminum things stuck together (I also have cheap rings that has paint residue in their thread, they stuck very often too).

To unscrew stuck up ring I was using some bigger ring screwed to stuck one. You have achromat lens that is very hard core thing, so try to screw it to your ring and press it to your lens to unscrew it together with your stuckup ring.

I have build small crane that has extension joints that sometimes get stuck. When is cold they work like they never stuck. Those joints are uncoated so after some usage they stuck again from aluminum oxydation. When I polish them they work again. (I will change their construction or anodize them to prevent this)

So, if your ring is aluminum type try to change it with brass one (try to find quality ones, my has glossy polished look if that is some criteria...), and maybe, just maybe to put very small amount of some silicone lubricant in your ring threads to prevent future stuckup's.

PS
Jar opener? Does anyone has guts to try it to remove stuck ring?

That has got to suck to extremity, really and truly. If you are taking it back to the camera doctor, maybe ask if he can dremel or mill two slots across the face of the ring so you can get some purchase against the ring with a flat blade or a special wrench made up from sheetmetal.