My Reverse Ring Got Stuck On the Camera Body

Yes, my reverse ring got itself stuck on my Canon camera body and I was on the verge of panicking after spending almost 5 minutes wrestling with it today.

This is actually a nice case of ‘absence of mind’ while doing something…or, ok, it’s actually a case of plain old stupidity.

While trying to fend off an impending panic, I thought of searching for help via Google as I know I can always count on it for answers. I also know that if I, mediocre as I am, can meet a problem like this, there’s a great probability that at least 35% of the world’s population has already been through the same problem. Ok, I made that statistic up, but the point is…there should be a considerable number of folks out there who can be as dumb as I sometimes can be.

As I expected, there were several pages returned by Google about the same subject matter.

And the funny thing is that I could see that there were also a lot of people who have yet to experience this same thing and be as dumb as I was in finding a solution to it.

In the forums, (e.g. photoforum, [wpPopWizard item_id=kswppw_in1ine inltext=”<p>how to remove stuck reverse ring</p>” ]dpchallenge[/wpPopWizard], [wpPopWizard item_id=kswppw_in1ine inltext=”<p>reverse ring stuck, help</p>” ]dpreview[/wpPopWizard]) here are just some funny suggestions to removing a stuck reverse ring:

[warning]
…might be worth applying a bit of heat…
[/warning]

[note]
Maybe try mounting it on the camera, reversed and then try removing the ring..
[/note]

[tip]
Gentle tapping, flat on a bench may also yield a result – dry grease or candle wax rubbed into the thread before the next application will help stop it from sticking too…
[/tip]

[help]
apply heat or place in the fridge (wrapped in a plastic bag if cooling) and the stuff should come apart while either hot or cold.
[/help]

[note]
A sledgehammer also comes in handy at times like that.
If all else fails, …you need an Excedrin for the self-inflicted headache…
[/note]

The sledgehammer solution, of course, is my most favorite.

How to Remove Stuck Reverse Ring

How do you remove a lens from the camera body? If you know how, then that exactly is how you remove a reverse ring from the same camera body.

You press the lens release button, and then twist the reverse ring gently counter-clockwise.

You can imagine how dumb I felt when I realized how to remove a stuck reverse ring from my camera. How does a simple procedure that one already knows still slip off sometimes?

Anyway, I just simply missed playing with my camera as I just got it back after several months of it sleeping in some Canon support repair shop in the South. I remembered that I have a reverse ring which I bought last year (I have a post about it: Macro Close Up Photography: Cheaper Alternative to Macro Photography) and was thinking of trying it again.

Here, by the way are some shots I made with my 18-55mm kit lens attached on my camera in reverse with a couple of close up macro filters.

From this:

comes these macro pics:


The watch is an old one that I still use even now. It’s still silver-shiny, but as you can see in the above close-up photo, you’d think it’s been slid through sandpaper.

I shot another macro coming from this old filing cabinet:

And here’s the macro photo:

That’s the close-up of a particular rusty spot on the filing cabinet.

Not the best macro photo quality of course, but considering that I only used very cheap equipment like[wpPopWizard item_id=kswppw_in1ine inltext=”<p>You can safely buy close up lenses and other photo equipment here.</p>” ] close up lenses and inverse rings[/wpPopWizard], I think it’s cool enough.

While we’re in the subject of inverse rings, here’s a couple of short videos I found from youtube which should amply educate anyone who has yet to know what a reverse ring is and what it is for.

Note: All macro photos are un-cropped.