When travel photographer Craig Pulsifer accidentally smashed the front of his lens recently and found his lens filter fused firmly to the metal threads, he went to Canon for help. The removal process explained to him by a Canon Professional services technician is probably something most people wouldn’t think to try: use a hammer and hacksaw to surgically remove the stuck filter. Pulsifer followed the advice, and found that it works quite well (though he does warn that it’s “not recommended for the faint of heart”). Read more…
Here’s a quick tip from photographer Jeffrey Guyer that’ll help to keep you from warping a stuck filter when trying to take it off your lens. Instead of grabbing it with your fingers or using a jar opener, you can just use rubbery drawer liner. Simply place the liner on a flat surface, press your lens (filter down of course) onto it, and turn. This allows you to get the filter unstuck while applying even pressure — no broken/warped filters, no sad photographers.
Here’s a quick tip for if you ever have a hard time removing a lens filter from a lens (e.g. when it’s damaged): use a shoe. Simply take any shoe with a grippy flat bottom, press it firmly against the filter, and then turn it. It’s a super simple technique that should work every time unless the threads on the lens itself are badly damaged.
