Stuck polarizer. Help!

Xylo · Jul 22, 2023

I just got a used Nikkor lens. It's one of those models with a plastic barrel.
The previous owner had put a polarizer on it. It's a nice one by Tiffen, so I don't want to wreck it.
But also, I don't want to keep it on for obvious reasons.
Only problem, it's stuck on really hard and the grippy part of the filter is really small.
So far I tried the usual mouse pad trick, but the filter just freely rotates.
I tried a grip pad, strap wrench, strap wrench with duct tape to keep both parts together... but nothing seems to work.

Has anybody got an idea of how to get the darn thing off?
The lens barrel is plastic, so I really have to be careful as to what I put on it as I don't want to chemically melt the lens.

Thanks.

madNbad · Jul 22, 2023

Put a zip tie around the non rotating ring and use it for leverage. I should be enough to be able to push on the tie clamp and get the inner ring moving. More suggestions to come.

John Salim · Jul 22, 2023

Try wearing a rubber glove to unscrew it ... this sometimes works well !

John S

Xylo · Jul 22, 2023

madNbad said:
Put a zip tie around the non rotating ring and use it for leverage. I should be enough to be able to push on the tie clamp and get the inner ring moving.

Just tried this.. sadly it's stuck on too hard.

John Salim said:
Try wearing a rubber glove to unscrew it ... this sometimes works well !

Too stuck for this one too...

Thing is that the ring is really thin...

mshchem · Jul 22, 2023

If you had XXL Channel lock pliers you could get a grip on the filter and get it started. Chain wrench would work too. Even if you scratch the outside of the filter ring no big deal. Hopefully the plastic filter threads aren't permanently damaged.

Kino · Jul 22, 2023

A drop or two of 91% alcohol on the seam where the actual filter/lens meet. Give it 20 seconds and then try again. It won't damage the lens or the filter...

xkaes · Jul 22, 2023

Better than alcohol (not a lubricant), hold the lens horizontally and place ONE DROP of penetrating oil (a lubricant) -- WD-40, Liquid Wrench, etc. -- on the stuck slot. Give it a minute and try again.

I like the idea of tape to hold both rings together.

Ian C · Jul 22, 2023

These have worked well for me.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1407948-REG/sensei_48_58mm_filter_wrench_2_pack.html/?ap=y&ap=y&smp=y&smp=y&smpm=ba_f2_lar&lsft=BI:6879&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI94GgsfeigAMVEO3jBx3DaABCEAQYASABEgJTE_D_BwE

If you need a larger wrench,

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...wm_7282_72_82mm_rubberized_filter_wrench.html

You only need a single wrench in this case. Fit it over the OD of the serrated gripping surface on the filter (as shown in the photo of post #4).

They’re fairly thin at 0.125” = 3.18 mm. I don't know the thickness of the larger 72 mm - 82 mm wrench pair of the second link.

Due to the occasional stuck filter, I’ve adopted the practice of applying a tiny amount of white wax lubricant to the threads before installing. Petrolatum (Vaseline, for example) might work also help prevent the threads from sticking together.

The Liquid Wrench idea might help. If you use it, use as little as possible so that you don’t get it past the front ring of the lens and then inside where it could foul the glass.

xkaes · Jul 22, 2023

Those spanner wrenches would be a good idea if they had rubber on the inside. They don't. They are simply very hard plastic with no grip -- simply pressure. And when the pressure gets to be about right, they just slip off. Under some circumstances they will work, but I doubt it in this case.

xkaes · Jul 22, 2023

Another approach -- if you have the right tools -- would be the "mustard jar" approach. The filter has tiny ribs around the circumference. IF you have a small enough flat-head screw driver to fit in those ribs (or similar device), you could hold the screwdriver at an angle and tap the end of it -- lightly -- with a hammer -- COUNTER-clockwise, of course. All you need to do it get it moving in the right direction.

Sirius Glass · Jul 22, 2023

Get a set of filter wrenches.

Amazon.com : lens filter wrench set

Rick A · Jul 22, 2023

xkaes said:
Those spanner wrenches would be a good idea if they had rubber on the inside. They don't. They are simply very hard plastic with no grip -- simply pressure. And when the pressure gets to be about right, they just slip off. Under some circumstances they will work, but I doubt it in this case.

Use a rubber band on fixed ring plus use the wrench, takes much more force before slipping.

Xylo · Jul 22, 2023

I'm going to try the alcohol trick first, followed by the drop of WD-40... And we'll see.
Keep you posted.

Xylo · Jul 22, 2023

OK, a small step in what I hope is the right direction. The glass in the filter was held by a screw-on ring with slots for my spanner... Glass is out, but the ring remains.
I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't leave the ring there so I have a good metal thread for other filters. Since it's a 70-300mm, it won't vignette.

Do you think it's a good idea?

mshchem · Jul 22, 2023

Don't mess up the lens trying to save a filter. This sorta thing drives me crazy.

mshchem · Jul 22, 2023

Xylo said:
OK, a small step in what I hope is the right direction. The glass in the filter was held by a screw-on ring with slots for my spanner... Glass is out, but the ring remains.
I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't leave the ring there so I have a good metal thread for other filters. Since it's a 70-300mm, it won't vignette.

Do you think it's a good idea?

Leave it alone

Rick A · Jul 22, 2023

Xylo said:
I'm going to try the alcohol trick first, followed by the drop of WD-40... And we'll see.
Keep you posted.

Forget the WD-40.

snusmumriken · Jul 22, 2023

Rather than a mouse pad (too much internal twisting), I suggest sheet rubber, as used for roofing, or car/truck inner tubes. Place the lens filter-down on the rubber, apply your body weight, and twist.

Xylo · Jul 22, 2023

In that case I'll just leave it there.
I thought of snipping it off like a broken filter but if the ~~gorilla~~ previous owner who put it on damaged the plastic threads, I'm not any better off.

Thanks for all your inputs

Don_ih · Jul 22, 2023

xkaes said:
IF you have a small enough flat-head screw driver to fit in those ribs (or similar device), you could hold the screwdriver at an angle and tap the end of it -- lightly -- with a hammer -- COUNTER-clockwise, of course.

That suggestion is guaranteed to work.

Kino · Jul 22, 2023

Xylo said:
OK, a small step in what I hope is the right direction. The glass in the filter was held by a screw-on ring with slots for my spanner... Glass is out, but the ring remains.
I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't leave the ring there so I have a good metal thread for other filters. Since it's a 70-300mm, it won't vignette.

Do you think it's a good idea?

Yup. Leave it be. It might even be glued-in for whatever reason.

xkaes · Jul 22, 2023

I bought a lens a while back -- a great, compact Vivitar one-touch 35-70mm f2.8/3.5 zoom. Very inexpensive because the filter ring was dented. Although I was able to straighten out the dent enough to get a filter on it, getting filters on & off was a real PITA. So I concluded the best approach was to get a UV filter on the lens -- and leave it on the lens. The lens now allows other filters to be added without any problems.

Alan Edward Klein · Jul 23, 2023

Ian C said:
These have worked well for me.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1407948-REG/sensei_48_58mm_filter_wrench_2_pack.html/?ap=y&ap=y&smp=y&smp=y&smpm=ba_f2_lar&lsft=BI:6879&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI94GgsfeigAMVEO3jBx3DaABCEAQYASABEgJTE_D_BwE

If you need a larger wrench,

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...wm_7282_72_82mm_rubberized_filter_wrench.html

You only need a single wrench in this case. Fit it over the OD of the serrated gripping surface on the filter (as shown in the photo of post #4).

They’re fairly thin at 0.125” = 3.18 mm. I don't know the thickness of the larger 72 mm - 82 mm wrench pair of the second link.

Due to the occasional stuck filter, I’ve adopted the practice of applying a tiny amount of white wax lubricant to the threads before installing. Petrolatum (Vaseline, for example) might work also help prevent the threads from sticking together.

The Liquid Wrench idea might help. If you use it, use as little as possible so that you don’t get it past the front ring of the lens and then inside where it could foul the glass.

How do you handle the filter without getting grease on your fingers and then all over the camera and lens? Looks like a solution in search of a problem.

Sirius Glass · Jul 23, 2023

Alan Edward Klein said:
How do you handle the filter without getting grease on your fingers and then all over the camera and lens? Looks like a solution in search of a problem.

That has never been a problem using those or similar filter wrenches when I have used them. It is a solution for a real problem.

Xylo · Jul 23, 2023

OK, update time.
I tried using a screwdriver and a small hammer to gently tap the filter out. Then I used less gentle taps go try and get the filter off. Long story short, the filter is still very well attached to the lens.

I'm starting to think that the previous owner cross threaded the filter and kept on torquing it until it sat flush with the mount.

Stuck polarizer. Help!

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