Safe Infrared lens removal

Safe Infrared lens removal
After reading several posts on removing infrared filters with an exacto knife and to come away with broken glass, I decided to try a different approach. Items used: Drill Press Vise Needlenose pliers Tweezers Magnifying lamp Small clean container with lid. ex; CompactFlash case. Clean workplace ex; clean desktop with vise sitting on a clean sheet of paper 1. Unscrew the lens from it's mount. It is sealed, but with a slight twist with some needle nose pliers, it will break free. The infrared filter is on the backside, any light shining on it gives it an orange looking coating. It is glued to the barrel. 2. Now, start placeing the lens (infrared filter side up) in a vise (preferrably a drill press vise). 3. Tilt the vise at an angle, aligned the infrared filter so that it is just above the top of the jaws of the vise. 4. SLOWLY tighten the vise, watch the sides of the black barrel lens mount. You will start to see the barrel seperating from the filter. 5. STOP at this point. 6. Now loosen the vise and rotate the barrel 90 degrees. 7. Now repeat steps 2 - 5. 8. Be prepared to watch the lens pop-up and fly away. :) 9. If it lands on the paper, it will have an aqua color to it. (Your mileage and lighting, may vary). This has worked well for me. Two things to remember. BE PATIENT DON'T DRINK 10 CUPS OF COFFEE PRIOR TO THIS PROCEDURE :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: MUOTUC

... seems everyone has trouble removing the filter but me... i just esed my smallest precision screw driver, worked it between the filter and barrel, and pried it up a little, then repeated every 90 degrees around, until it popped loose...

Corscaria, whatever cooks your noodle, go with it. However, you still risk chipping the filter by prying. Another way of doing it other than the method I used is to try just using the needlenose pliers and gently squeeze and turning the barrel. A little less control, but should work. By the way, excellent work you are doing. MUOTUC ... seems everyone has trouble removing the filter but me... i just esed my smallest precision screw driver, worked it between the filter and barrel, and pried it up a little, then repeated every 90 degrees around, until it popped loose...

now I have to go buy another cam just to have a $20 IR cam this will be my fith one. Sweet!

Corscaria wrote seems everyone has trouble removing the filter but me Perhaps a women's touch helps, but with a alot of patience I removed filter from CVS still camera using similar method but rotating 45% each time.

heh, i just took a small screwdriver and rammed it in between the plastic and the ir filter... it only suffered a very small chip. maybe i got a stronger one? dunno... but i ruined the whole lens shortly thereafter.. rofl.

I did a few of them and they simply pop out by swirling a sharp blade around the edges.

Re: Safe Infrared lens removal
After reading several posts on removing infrared filters with an exacto knife and to come away with broken glass, I decided to try a different approach. Items used: Drill Press Vise Needlenose pliers Tweezers Magnifying lamp Small clean container with lid. ex; CompactFlash case. Clean workplace ex; clean desktop with vise sitting on a clean sheet of paper 1. Unscrew the lens from it's mount. It is sealed, but with a slight twist with some needle nose pliers, it will break free. The infrared filter is on the backside, any light shining on it gives it an orange looking coating. It is glued to the barrel. 2. Now, start placeing the lens (infrared filter side up) in a vise (preferrably a drill press vise). 3. Tilt the vise at an angle, aligned the infrared filter so that it is just above the top of the jaws of the vise. 4. SLOWLY tighten the vise, watch the sides of the black barrel lens mount. You will start to see the barrel seperating from the filter. 5. STOP at this point. 6. Now loosen the vise and rotate the barrel 90 degrees. 7. Now repeat steps 2 - 5. 8. Be prepared to watch the lens pop-up and fly away. :) 9. If it lands on the paper, it will have an aqua color to it. (Your mileage and lighting, may vary). This has worked well for me. Two things to remember. BE PATIENT DON'T DRINK 10 CUPS OF COFFEE PRIOR TO THIS PROCEDURE :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: MUOTUC thanks, great method, i modified it for me though, i dont have a press/clamp, i i used my teeth, and worked quite well :)

I think I fried my usb connector (my next post) so I got adventurous and took out the lens and put it in the freezer for about an hour. I took it out, ran a knife edge around the IR filter, and held it gently with a pair of pliers (to try to keep it cool) while I tapped it. The filter came out within a minute. I waited a while for condensation to evaporate before I screwed the lens back in. Now I have a IR vision, and can replace the filter if I get the dongle working again.

Actually these filter lens pop out very easily. All you need is an Xacto Knife. Get one with the thinnest and most pointed tip. Take out the camera lens and flip it over. Place the tip of the Xacto knife between the edge of the filter lens (the red looking lens) and the cylinder that holds the filter lens. You will not need a lot of pressure. Gently press the knife against the filter lens edge while carefully prying up the filter lens, remember not a lot of pressure. The filter lens is just pressed in and not much pressure is holding it in. So, don’t press hard. The tip of the Xacto knife will dig into the lens enough to help pop it out. I then store my filter lens in the small plastic cylinders the Xacto knife blades come in.

i put pressure on one side of the lens and then pride it open with a double edge blade was very easy...

Re: Safe Infrared lens removal
i modified it for me though, i dont have a press/clamp, i i used my teeth, and worked quite well hehe.. nice creative thinking :)

i got the lens out, no prob and i took a few videos. it was cool and all but i wanted to put it back in. i figured it would just press in, so i did that and in the middle of my video (it took some pretty hard impacts) the filter came out again. anybody have any suggestions? well what i would sugestis superglue, but there are some potential probs, the plastic might melt too much w/ the glue or some of the vapors from the glue could attach to the lense and give you permently fuzzy images. i wouild sugest putting the filter, then a small dab of super glue on the edge where the filter and plastic holder meet, maby that on 2 or 3 places will work, or maby one, i'm not sure. and to hDy, yes, my lack of funding has required me to be resourcefull :)

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