Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L with cracked filter stuck on lense. Any ideas to remove?

Nate1020 wrote:

I am looking for any ideas to remove this damaged filter from my lens. The rim of the filter is bent which is preventing screwing it off even with considerable force.  The lens was attached to a 60D and was knocked  4-5 feet off a table and landed lens first on the sidewalk. Luckily he only major damage was done to the filter.

Thank you.

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A lenshood is a better bumper, and will not get stuck in such a potentially destructive manner. Nor will a lens hood have the potential to produce sharp and hard glass shards to scratch the front element. You can try with a rubber band around ot to get more grip, or do a google search about un-sticking stuck damaged filters.

Perhaps one of those rubber pipe wrenches you can use to loosen pipe might work.

Hi!

Once happened the same to my 17-85.
Happened to my wife's Oly 70-300, too.

I weared a pair rubber gloves, grabbed the filter with one hand and the lens with the the other one and unscrewed both. It was very easy.
BTW: about the gloves, don't use thin ones, like the medichal or home versions, but use the industrial or construction type. It's safe from the broken glass. You can buy it from any tool store.
Sometimes, I wear the same type of gloves to open jam jars. I have an extra pair in the car to change tires.

tonyjr wrote:

I used a pair of long nose pliers to bend back , then a coping saw to slot the filter in several places - 1/8 inch wide - then bend back and forth till it breaks out a piece

A firm, even pressure all the way around the filter applied with a strip of rubber, or one of those bottle top remover tools is the first thing to try.  If you apply too much pressure though, then you will be clamping the filter on even more and it won't turn, so don't over torque it.

If that doesn't work, then a fine saw and a pair of needle nose pliers is the way to go, just as Tony suggested.  Select a part of the filter where the glass is still intact, then carefully (I'm sure I didn't need to say that!) saw two notches in the filter ring about 1cm or so apart.  You need to cut as deeply into the filter as you can without sawing into the lens, then work it back and forth until it comes apart.  After that it's just a matter of unpeeling the ring and letting the broken filter glass fall away so it doesn't scratch the front element of the lens.

Andy

You could put the lens in a plastic bag and but it in the freezer for a while. The cold will cause the metal to contact making it easier to loosen.

I've loosen many stuck things this way.

How about using BOTH a lens hood and filter.

Sorry, but most damage to the front of a lens is not from people dropping it a few feet like this, it is from people BUMPING into things with the front element, and not even break the UV filter.

I look at my UV filters, and the fronts are scratched to hell. Not all my lenses have hard coatings, so that would be the lens, instead of the filter.

For drops, yea, the hood is better.

Does that filter have grips on it? It looks pretty smooth.

You need a belt grip. (not sure of the exact name) or a wide clamp.

brightcolours wrote:

Nate1020 wrote:

I am looking for any ideas to remove this damaged filter from my lens. The rim of the filter is bent which is preventing screwing it off even with considerable force.  The lens was attached to a 60D and was knocked  4-5 feet off a table and landed lens first on the sidewalk. Luckily he only major damage was done to the filter.

Thank you.

---

A lenshood is a better bumper, and will not get stuck in such a potentially destructive manner. Nor will a lens hood have the potential to produce sharp and hard glass shards to scratch the front element. You can try with a rubber band around ot to get more grip, or do a google search about un-sticking stuck damaged filters.

NomadMark wrote:

If you didn't have a filter mounted, that damage would have been done to the front end of the lens. I'd sooner have issue taking a broken filter off, than never being able to get one back on, or worse!!

Nonsense. He had no lens hood on. With hood the lens would be fine.

People get to all kinds of odd ideas in order to keep on using thin slabs of glass to "protect" lenses.

AFAIK this lens is metal construction.  Is there any distortion to the end of the lens, where the filter threads are?  If so, I don't think you stand any chance of removing the filter except by the saw-and-hammer method referenced previously.

If the lens threads are still perfectly round, you might try carefully applying a little WD40 -- although not directly from the spray can, or you'll end up with oil everywhere.  Leave it to work for an hour or so, and then see if you can shift the filter with a thick rubber glove.  Perhaps tape the broken glass first so that it doesn't drop out into your hand.

Actually I think the person who said to send the lens to Canon was right, but I write this as an inveterate tinkerer who doesn't always do the right thing.

bruxi wrote:

Austin_Luker wrote:

I don't drop lenses, but have had many front elements poked going through the woods and saved by a filter, so I guess to each his own.

I have a simple tip for you. Lens cap.

I guess to each his own.