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UV Filter Stuck - 8K

Red-V

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I can't get the UV filter to come off my Evo II. I want to use a ND filter and I need to take the UV filter off first. Its the regular version with the 8K camera.

It is really tight and I just can't get it to budge. I have had the drone a couple weeks and haven't needed to take it off before, I just can't get it to turn. I was an auto mechanic for a long time so I have strong hands and lots of experience with threaded fasteners, I'm just afraid to put much more force on it. I thought about taking the gimble/camera off the drone to see if I can get a little better grip on it.

Are these things just really tight from the factory? Is there a special tool to remove them?
 
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Yep, wrench twister myself and the UV was on very tight, like you I was Leary but just kept constant pressure n twist and it finally let loose. I did NOT put the ND on that tight, 50 flights, 50 checks and still seated good
 
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I got it off. Thanks for the tips.

I would have given up if I hadn't seen one come off in that video, it took an unreasonable amount of force.
 
A rubber band placed over the front grooves gives a constant stable pressure and always works well without marring or damaging the OEM UV filter. It has worked well for me on many different gimbal types and filters on various drones I have owned through the years. Adios!
 
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I got hard time to remove my factory filter on evo2 pro too. I used rubber band and two hand wear latex glove, one hand hold gimbal another hand slowly apply force to turn it.
Once I got it out never put any filter back that tight again. Autel put it too tight.
 
The cover glass filter on my 6K camera was so tight I half expected it had been superglued on there. Others on FB forums assured me it wasn't and suggested methods they used to get a better grip. I'm an old-time photographer and know that there are all manner of actual filter wrenches and lens disassembly tools that have been available down through the years. But without having to wait for or resort to making one, it occurred to me to use materials at hand. The coarse ribs on an 8" x 3/16" zip tie I had laying around were a good match for the ribs on the filter. Snugged down tight and pulled back against itself, it was just the additional leverage needed.
Unfortunately access for the 8K camera front filter is more recessed and I don't know that my method will work on any but the 6K camera.
Oh, will also mention about the zipties is that with the Freewell filter set the polarizers and pola/NDs are a smidge too thick for the gimbal cover. So if you accidentally leave one on and replace the cover, only to discover the camera bound up in there when you try to take it back off, the same size ziptie can be snaked around inside the lens well to lift the floppy gimbal up slightly and align the lens in order to completely remove the cover.
 
I can't get the UV filter to come off my Evo II. I want to use a ND filter and I need to take the UV filter off first. Its the regular version with the 8K camera.

It is really tight and I just can't get it to budge. I have had the drone a couple weeks and haven't needed to take it off before, I just can't get it to turn. I was an auto mechanic for a long time so I have strong hands and lots of experience with threaded fasteners, I'm just afraid to put much more force on it. I thought about taking the gimble/camera off the drone to see if I can get a little better grip on it.

Are these things just really tight from the factory? Is there a special tool to remove them?
Hi i had the same problem i had to use a very thin scewdriver and push aginst it to loosen it now it comes off easy by hand
 
I can't get the UV filter to come off my Evo II. I want to use a ND filter and I need to take the UV filter off first. Its the regular version with the 8K camera.

It is really tight and I just can't get it to budge. I have had the drone a couple weeks and haven't needed to take it off before, I just can't get it to turn. I was an auto mechanic for a long time so I have strong hands and lots of experience with threaded fasteners, I'm just afraid to put much more force on it. I thought about taking the gimble/camera off the drone to see if I can get a little better grip on it.

Are these things just really tight from the factory? Is there a special tool to remove them?
 
Get a realy thin screwdriver and push against it and downwards thats how i got mine off they come off easy now only need to do that once
 
A bit unrelated and an old thread, but still related to filters, here is my write-up on why I don't use them.

Personally I have never used ND filters with any of my drone footage even commercial footage for paying clients. I know a lot of people use them but in my opinion I think a lot of people use them just because they have read somewhere that they are supposed to use them based on the 180 degree shutter angle rule (i.e. shutter speed "should" be 2x the frame rate). But if you study the reasons why that rule came about you may reach the same conclusion that I did; which is that it doesn't make sense for drone footage.

The shutter angle/shutter speed rule is meant to reduce or eliminate flicker in certain scenarios such as at night under street lights. Well when you think about it how often is a drone in that situation? The rule is also meant to ensure that there is the "proper" amount of motion blur during fast camera movements; once again, how often is a drone close enough to an object for it to matter? So what about fast moving objects other than the drone.....once again, how often is the drone close enough to that object for the motion blur difference to really be noticeable? And if you still want that barely noticeable motion blur that you feel like you are missing...it takes seconds to add it from within your NLE as you are editing the video.

So if there's not much benefit to using ND filters on drones are there any downsides? Sure there are:

  • Another Lens - ND filters are another lens between the camera and the scene which means its another thing that can get smudged, dirty or dusty, and can affect the incoming quality of light
  • Image Degradation - Cheap ND filters can add a color cast, corner softness, chromatic aberration, and other problems to the image the camera records. Even the most expensive ND filters out there tend to add a slightly green cast.
  • Gimbal Motor Burnout - This was the main reason I chose not to use ND filters years ago. Back then they were heavy and not designed for drones. People were reporting their gimbal motors burning out trying to support the additional weight of the ND filter on the front of the camera. What may feel nearly weightless to humans is still an additional load on the gimbal motor that was not accounted for in the original design of the drone's gimbal motors.
  • Cost - ND filter sets for drones are not cheap, they are easy to break and to lose and offer marginal if any benefit to the actual footage. Drones have a very limited lifespan (the avg is 3yrs), so every accessory that you buy for one is lost if you crash it or get a new drone.
  • Setup Time - They add to the drone setup time. You have to figure out the proper ND filter based on the current ambient lighting situation and there's always the chance it could change drastically while you are in the air (i.e. the sun goes behind heavy cloud cover or you fly beneath tree cover).
  • Camera Modification - If the ND filter has to replace the UV filter you are breaking the original factory sealed filter which will increase the chances of getting dirt, moisture, and other undesirables behind the lens. The better solutions slip over the UV filter....but then there's the weight problem.
So after looking at all of the pros and cons I personally just ignore the shutter angle / shutter speed rules and increase my shutter speed as needed to properly expose the scene. With a drone like the EVO II 6K at F11 ISO 100 I can practically point it at the sun and still not be much over 1/200s
 
I can't get the UV filter to come off my Evo II. I want to use a ND filter and I need to take the UV filter off first. Its the regular version with the 8K camera.

It is really tight and I just can't get it to budge. I have had the drone a couple weeks and haven't needed to take it off before, I just can't get it to turn. I was an auto mechanic for a long time so I have strong hands and lots of experience with threaded fasteners, I'm just afraid to put much more force on it. I thought about taking the gimble/camera off the drone to see if I can get a little better grip on it.

Are these things just really tight from the factory? Is there a special tool to remove them?
 
Hi Red-V; this post might be a little late, but today I solved the problem of removing the factory lens cover in order to use ND filters! In my opinion, they are on too tight and nearly impossible to remove using fingers; and I have yet to find a lens removal tool to help. There's a narrow band of grooves around the lens, which are the only way to apply twisting pressure to the lens to rotate counterclockwise and break the seal. Today I took the ND32 filter in my hands, and it had the same (perhaps more pronounced, improved) grooves on around it's lens...then it occurred to me! I flipped the new lens over, and placed it grooves to grooves over the OEM cover lens...and applied a firm downward force and twist while firmly holding the gimbal ball. Eureka! The OEM cover lens started to move for the first time in over a year of trying to get it done. In short, I used the replacement lens to act as a tool to loosen the existing lens.
 

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