What do you do when you have a very large 105mm Circular Polarizer (CP) filter stuck on your brand new $3,600 lens?? Cry? (almost) Get Mad??! (more frustrated, but yes) How about just get your MacGyver on? I had this problem, tried several ways to get the necessary leverage (after having called local as well as far away authorized repair centers) and was almost resigned to send the lens in to the authorized repair center to have it possibly surgically removed until the thought hit me:
Take a thin (~ 1 - 2 cm) strip of Duct Tape and wrap it around the filter to join the freely rotating polarizer to the lens ring in order to join the two pieces together and provide more gripping surface. Go to your local Home Depot or hardware store and buy a Strap Wrench. I found a "Husky 8 inch Strap Wrench", whose strap is made of rubber that provides great grip and less likely to leave any marks. Affix the strap around the CP filter snugly and then gently apply pressure in the proper rotation (counter-clockwise if looking down at the face of the lens), and the filter should easily come free. If the filter is not locked too tightly on the lens, you may get enough leverage to free the filter with just the duct tape alone. If it still remains frozen, then get out the strap wrench.
Are there any other easy solutions to frozen filters out there that you've found works well? Please share...
Take a thin (~ 1 - 2 cm) strip of Duct Tape and wrap it around the filter to join the freely rotating polarizer to the lens ring in order to join the two pieces together and provide more gripping surface. Go to your local Home Depot or hardware store and buy a Strap Wrench. I found a "Husky 8 inch Strap Wrench", whose strap is made of rubber that provides great grip and less likely to leave any marks. Affix the strap around the CP filter snugly and then gently apply pressure in the proper rotation (counter-clockwise if looking down at the face of the lens), and the filter should easily come free. If the filter is not locked too tightly on the lens, you may get enough leverage to free the filter with just the duct tape alone. If it still remains frozen, then get out the strap wrench.
Are there any other easy solutions to frozen filters out there that you've found works well? Please share...