mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

If you keep it on the lens all the time it wiil very likely get stuck as well, and stacking filters can cause vignetting depending on the lens, even with no glass in one of the filter rings.

marthamcc

Thanks for all the replies ! I really appreciate them.

For the moment I bought the wrenches and hope this works. In September I am going to vacation and hope to take reasonably good landscape pictures.

I am always careful when I put filters on.

MtnMan Loc: ID

I thought it a great idea.

You do have to understand that he meant from the outside of his nose.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

Stuck filters depend on the materials used. Most filter rings are made of aluminum and are subject the metallurgical 'seizing' (self-welding so to say) unless the ring and especially the threads are anodized. Cheap ribgs are not. One way to avoid is to not twist too tightly. If your filter has a black ring, it had been anodized, BUT frequent put-on & take-off can wear away the thread anodize. If your filter rings are shiny as in untreated metal by all means use them with the utmost care. As for 'wrench' contraptions, remember that aluminum is soft and malleable. Do any filter manufacturers use carbon fiber plastics for the ring material - these should be much safer than aluminum.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

ROTFLMAO
--Bob

redrocktom Loc: Sedona

I use the Xume magnetic filter holders with my Hoya Pro CP, ND filters and clear filter. Screw them on the filter holder once, and you are all set. I love them.

kbarnes42 Loc: North Carolina

I have a simple method on screwing filters onto the lens. Lightly place the filter on the lens and turn it the opposite direction till you hear it click. It then should be ready to thread onto the lens.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

I never had a stuck filter in my life, but still I do always carry at least one filter wrench in each of my bags (just in case). I don't stack screw-on filters very often, but I do so with slide- in filters, sometimes 4 of them to get me the result I like! In screw-in filters I do like both and use both (B&W and Hoya), in slide-in filters I do use Singh Ray ( tried Lee, Cokin and others, but did not like any of them)!!

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

SOME but not all B+W filters are in brass mounts to help minimize stuck filter issues. The "better quality" MRC, Kaësemann and similar are brass. The cheaper single coated or uncoated ones are aluminum, just like many other filter manufacturers. I think some of the higher quality Hoya are brass mounts, too... Also Schneider and Heliopan use brass mounts.

The problem was much more prevalent in the old days, because the threaded portion of many lens barrels were aluminum. And, aluminum on aluminum can cause "galling", resulting in stuck filters. Aluminum on aluminum also can self-weld over time, if the filter is left on the lens relatively permanently.

But, many of today's lenses use plastic filter threads, which have greatly reduced the problem of stuck filters.

I hadn't heard or using skin oils before, to lubricate the threads. I have used a wax candle rubbed lightly on filter threads to make it less likely to get stuck. A soft pencil can be used similarly, too. The pencil's graphite or the candle wax lubricates the threads, making it unlikely to get stuck.

In going on 40 years shooting, using hundreds of lenses and filters of all different types, I've never bothered with filter wrenches. I keep a few rubber bands handy in my camera bag, just in case. It's simply a matter of getting a little better grip on the thin edge of the filter and the barrel of the lens, and a wide rubber band or two work usually perfectly for that. Those rubber "grippers" used in the kitchen to help open stuck jar lids also work well.

I DO NOT use step rings and oversize filters. The problem with that is you can no longer use a good fitted lens hood, once you install the step ring and larger diameter filter. I use a lens hood 99.99% of the time and a filter probably less than 10 or 15% of the time. So I have just gotten filters that actually fit my lenses. With digital, so few filters are needed, when compared to film. I used to carry around 100 filters.... color correction, color conversion, black & white. Now I only carry a few types: UV, CPL, ND. So, even getting filters to fit each lens, it's cheaper with digital than it was with film. My lenses use 58mm, 55mm, 67mm, 72mm and 77mm, as well as 52mm drop-in... but I don't need all types of filters with all lenses, either.

Actually, I do use a few stepping rings... but only to be able to stack all the filters I carry in a single group, even the different sizes. My stack of 15 or 16 filters is about the size, shape and weight of an f4 wide angle zoom, so fits nicely into one of the pockets of my camera bag.

marthamcc

I bought a lubricant made of graphite in a pointed small container.