My 77 mm Heliopan Polarizer is stuck in a B+W 77 to 67 mm adapter ring. I have tried plastic filter wrenches without success. Anyone have a suggestion on how to seperate them?
Is there anywhere I can send them to to have them seperated?
Boil up a kettle of hot water. Pour it into a flat bottomed container. Lower the adapter ring end into the hot water for a few moments, so that it expands a bit. Take it off.
The lightest lubrication you can manage and never 'tighten' them - you barely twist them on until they are secure and holding, but never tightened.
By lightest lubrication I mean a microscopic film of light (sewing machine for example) oil applied with a q tip and wiped off with a lens tissue leaving the barest trace of oil. And I mean a minute amount.
For filters less is usually more. If you try to apply too much pressure to loosen a filter it will distort the filter thread and will lock it while the pressure is applied. This is even more apparent on slim filters where there isn't much supporting metal around the glass.
Step rings suck! I know, 'cause I use them a lot for ND filters.
As mentioned in both previous posts, don't make them too tight. Of course, this can be counterproductive in some situations, and can it happen all on it's own, depending on what temperatures the gear sees.
For light lube, I prefer light mineral oil for most photo gear. It doesn't dissolve stuff, but I rarely use it. IMR, never used in on step rings. YMMV.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I have decided my combo of the Heliopan High Transmission polarizer and the B+W 77-67 adpater is impossible to use. I try rotate the filter into the ring until it is just snug then during use it seizes up everytime. Even with wrenches it is almost impossible to seperate the two.
I think I am going to abandon this setup and go with a Singh-Ray sproket polarizer in a Cokin holder.
I have also found that putting them flat on a rubber pad and twisting can loosen filters. The key is to distribute the pressure evenly around the ring (as opposed to two or three pressure points when you use your fingers).
EDIT: Oops - just reread and see it was a polarizing filter (which obviously spins as well). You gotta be careful not over tightening those bad boys!
