Hi all,

I am a "veteran" of two flights without mishap.

I bought some ND filters with my new Phantom 3 Pro, but I could not remove the supplied plain glass filter using as much force as I dared without damaging the camera.

I wrote to DJI Support and a lady named Sophie replied that she had done this and it was easy ....... I tried again - it wouldn't budge, so I resorted to a crescent wrench, with some cloth between to protect the metal, and  ........ it finally loosened!

Happy to be shooting video with better contrast now, but I wonder - has anyone else had this problem, or am I Robinson Crusoe?


Cheers

Peter

I had that same problem too. I wrapped my fingers around the UV lens filter until it warmed up, then simply unscrewed the filter off.

Yes, it is on there very tightly, and with a smooth body it's hard to get a grip.  You can usually buy a pair of filter wrenches from a camera store to help change filters on cameras -- they are typically hard to remove and quite thin.  Unfortunately I couldn't find any that small, around 30mm if I remember rightly.  A quick tip is to use a couple of cable ties, one around the barrel and one around the filter.  Tighten them just enough to grip firmly, but not enough to damage the body or filter.  Now you should be able to get a good grip and with a bit of thumb pressure on the ratchet joint of the cable tie you can rotate them in opposite directions.  Once apart the cable ties should just slide off sideways.

Do not press too hard because you will damage the lens cover. You need to have a LIGHT grip pretty much all around the cover. Easiest way is to use 4 fingers and have each finger spaced evenly and turn slowly counter clockwise. If you press too hard it will not come off.
That is a $30 lens cover so you do not want to break it.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-1-22 13:47
Do not press too hard because you will damage the lens cover. You need to have a LIGHT grip pretty m ...

Try wearing a Nitrile or Latex glove, like a doctor's glove. Worked great for mine.

Peter,
Were you able to remove it?
Also, be careful when it's removed. I lost my rubber o-ring that holds the lens in and it's a $10 part if a dealer wil sell you only the o-ring.

When I had the same problem with a filter on my DSLR, I used a suitable sized rubber band ie a width of the rubber band to match the width of the filter ring and a diameter to suit the diameter of the filter.  This gives a good grip for the four fingers spread nice and evenly round the filter to apply minimum grip to the filter before twisting off  

Nigpd Posted at 2016-1-29 18:44
When I had the same problem with a filter on my DSLR, I used a suitable sized rubber band ie a width ...

Also an excellent way to remove it.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-1-28 23:06
Peter,
Were you able to remove it?
Also, be careful when it's removed. I lost my rubber o-ring that ...

Yes, as I said, I eventually got it off, with the help od a wrench!

arv Posted at 2016-3-18 10:09
Yes, as I said, I eventually got it off, with the help od a wrench!

Ouch, a wrench. Hope it came off ok without any damage.