MHenny

My go-to Nikon 70-200 f2.8 suffered minor damage after it was accidentally dropped (my camera bag shoulder strap failed me). The UV filter glass shattered, but fortunately the front element survived w/o damage. As a result, I’ve attempted to remove the glass less filter ring from the lens but have been unsuccessful. I welcome any suggestions on technique or tools that would work on removing the ring.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

See if you can find one of these at a local store. Or, mail order.

https://www.oxo.com/categories/cooking-and-baking/tools-and-gadgets/can-and-jar-openers/jar-opener-with-base-pad-438.html

Guzser02

Why don't you give one of these a try?:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016W7RE6C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Have you tried this product? My review from direct experience: waste of time and money. The 2.5 star average rating is about 3 stars too high. Go with the OXO jar opener linked above, what I found after about the 3rd try of trying to solve a similar stuck filter problem.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

The ring is likely distorted beyond unscrewing. It will probably need to be cut off. You can do this yourself. Use a good pair of diagonal cutters and make two parallel curs down through JUST the ring itself about 3/8" apart (you don't need to cut all the way through, just as far as you can). Then use a pair of regular pliers to twist the section between the cuts. This will shrink the diameter of the ring and allow it to lift right off the lens. Make sure you remove all the filter glass first too.
I have used this method dozens of times to remove broken filters with jambed rings in my shop and it always works great.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

The problem with these filter wrenches is clear from the photograph in the ad...instead of gripping the filter uniformly around the circumference, there are two pinch points right near where the handle section connects. This squeezes the ring side-to-side, causing the top and bottom areas to jam tightly into the attachment threads, locking it even more securely in place.

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

Before you get out the cutting tools, try a mouse pad. Put the mouse pad upside down on a hard surface, (the back is designed not to slide) like a table, push the filter ring into the mouse pad and twist the lens counterclockwise. You might need help holding the mouse pad in place so it doesn't twist.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

I did and did not work for me.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Thanks for the tip. Good to have. Will get one.

Guzser02

Yes I have tried this product and it has worked well.
You need to step back a bit.
I was trying to help someone with a problem. Your opinion of this product is not the solution that the shooter with the filter ring problem needs.

Rick from NY Loc: Sarasota FL

Use a thick rubber band. No need to buy jar opener.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

The glass part of the filter is usually held by a spring-ring with a small empty area. Using a sharp knife point pry the ring and get it up and out of the filter, the glass part should fall out. With a needle-nose plyer grip and twist the filter metal, this will shrink ... pull away... the metal from the lense.

If the glass part of the filter is expensive, then buy a low-cost UV filter and remove the glass and substitute the expensive filter glass.

google: filter ring removal from lens and watch a lot of videos... have fun... good luck

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

The lens has a 77mm filter - so how would this work in this situation?

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Post a couple of photos of the damage.

An impact that would cause a filter to shatter may have done additional damage to the lens. Sounds like a trip to Nikon for, at the very least, a CLA and repair.

However, if you are dead set on trying this yourself, and if you have determined that the thread on the lens is round and not stripped from the impact, then you may want to try and carefully remove it with jeweler's saw and a very fine point needle nosed plier

https://www.micromark.com/Jewelers-Saw

https://www.micromark.com/Narrow-Fine-Point-Plier

Afterwards, clean the front element with lots of alcohol, flooding it, then inverting it to get rid of the liquid, and repeating until you see no filings in the alcohol. The point is that before you rub the surface of the lens with any cloth, you need to be 110% sure there is nothing on the lens that might abrade it. Use a high power loupe or linen tester to examine every square millimeter of the lens and especially the part where the glass meets the mount.

I would ingore any advice that comes from well-intentioned but misguided Keyboard Kommandos that are quick to responde, but probably have never experienced this type of damage. What you have is a bit more than a stuck filter - you may have a lens with a filter receptor that is out of round. Of course, even my advice is just from having experienced this myself a couple of times, and it may not apply to your specific circumstances. In fact the first time it happened I tried a similar approach and it worked because the lens thread or ring was not deformed. But the second time it was, and the remedy worked to get the filter off, but the filter ring on the lens was deformed and partially stripped, so I took it to Nikon for repair.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind