Vivitar 28mm f2 Lens malfunctioning - any suggestions?

[gnashings]

HI All,

 

I have a Vivitar 28mm f2 (MC) lens (serial 22xxxxxx) in Canon FD mount (I have never seen a 3rd party nFD mount

and this one is no exception - silver lock ring). Recently, I have noticed a couple of rolls come back severely

underexposed, and of course initially I blamed myself, or perhaps that C41 film does not keep as well in the fridge as

I thought... but: the last roll was pretty much half and half shot with my 50mm and the Viv 28, and the wide angle

sots were all underexposed as all sin. I mounted the lens on the camera and put the shutter on B, fired - the

apperture is clean and snaps shut quickly and wihtout fuss... The problem is, it always shuts down to what looks like

(just by the Mk I eyeball) f16 or so... no matter what I set the apperture to be, the resulting (very small) opening is

the same. I tried it on all my FD bodies just to be sure, and it looks like its the lens - all other lenses Ihave work fine.

This is a Kino/Kiron built lens judging from the SN, and I have read about issues with apperture on the Kiron branded

lenses, but don't recall anything exactly matching this issue.

Question is, what can I do myself to remedy this? I liked the lens when it worked, it was a decent WA and the extra

stop compared to most reasonably priced 28's was nice, but its not worth fixing by a pro given the prices on the open

market - is there anything I can do? Is there some simple solution that I am overlooking? Thanks in advance for any

and all your input,

 

Peter.

[ronald_moravec1]

Buy a new one. La Grange Camera & Video in La Grange Illinois has lots of older FD lenses for Canon, screw mt

Pentax, Nikon.

 

Third party lenses generally are not worth it in the long run.

 

They also have a repairman who straightened a lens focus helical that was in a bag that slipped off my shoulder and hit

cement. Two repair people would not even attempt it.

 

So a good repairman might be able to fix it, but remember no parts are available so it might get more expensive than a

replacement. Then again a screw might have just come loose. Without a qualified person looking at it, it is hard to tell.

[gnashings]

Yes, I know its a broken, inexpencive lens. I also know people sell other ones. Thanks.

[User_502260]

Most of the 28/2 Vivitar lenses with the 22XXX... serial numbers have oil on the aperture blades. Non-Canon FD mount lenses seem to be more prone to problems with their aperture mechanisms. Essex Camera Service in Carlstadt, NJ should be able to fix the lens for you. When it's working this is a very decent lens. The later 28/2 Vivitar with the 28XXX... serial number is less prone to getting oil on the blades and is also a good lens.

 

Some people would rather avoid non-Canon FD mount lenses altogether because original Canon lenses have fallen so much in price. I have many Canon lenses and also many non-Canon FD mount lenses. Certain third party enses had features which the original Canon lenses didn't. I have the 100/4 Canon New FD. It's a decent enough lens and is nicely made but it's slow and only goes to 1:2 without more extension. I like my Vivitar 90/2.5 Series 1, 100/2.8 Vivitar macro and 90/2.5 Tamron SP lenses better. They are all faster and the 100/2.8 will go to 1:1 without an additional tube. Other interesting third party lenses I have for Canon include the 55/2.8 Vivitar macro, 135/2.8 Vivitar Close Focusing, 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5 Tokina AT-X, 35-70mm f/2.5-3.5 Soligor C/D, 35/1.9 Vivitar Foxed Mount, 28/2 Kiron and 28-105mm f/2.8-3.8 Vivitar Series 1.

[Lou_Meluso]

"Third party lenses generally are not worth it in the long run"

I disagree. I have this lens and it is a fine performer. Peter, unless you're handy with lens disassembly, it doesn't sound like a problem a user could fix. It may be worth fixing, however. Mine was mint but had oil on the blades. Had it serviced and now it's like new and I KNOW it's reliable. If you buy another, it too may have hidden problems waiting to surface.

[Farkle-Mpls]

I had a Canon 28mm lens fixed for $30 by a camera repair guy in Stillwater, MN. He's a professional. Here is his

website:

 

http://www.alliedcamera.com/

 

My issue was minor: a loose rear element but the owner (Carl) can give you an estimate. He's repaired F1Ns for me and

CLAed other SLRs. Been in the business for 30 or so years.

 

That Vivitar lens is nice: I'd hate to see you throw it out if it can be inexpensively repaired.

 

Best of luck!

[gnashings]

Thanks so much for the input - I was kind of expecting that I would have to hire a pro if I want this fixed... Just as a curiousity - the apperture blades appear to be absolutely crystal clean - no oil. I have seen oil on blades on many different unfortunate lenses, and partly expected these to have this issue as well - having read about the issue and knowing it to be one of those things that mistreated old lenses suffer from in general (and I have no idea how this lens was stored over the years before it came to me). But these blades are the very definition of "snappy"... its just that they "snap" all the way shut no matter what I dial in:) Thanks again for all the suggestions - I think I will contact some of the repair shops and see if it makes dollars and cents to have it looked at.

[richard_cook2]

Try posting your question in the Maintenance & Repair section of the The Classic Camera Repair Forum at: http://www.kyphoto.com/cgi-bin/forum/discus.cgi

[andy_game]

I don´t know this lens at all, but is it possible that the aperture ring has slipped out of position? Many lenses have a small metal ball under this aperture ring...I would imagine if that gets dislodged the apertures can´t be set. Good luck with it, Andy

[gnashings]

Thanks again - I think given the price of the lens (I got it for $10 and it was nice while it lasted), I will have a go at it myself while looking for a replacement. Most likely I will learn an extensive collection of what not to do to a lens, but a repair is simply not financially feasible, at these prices I can buy one of these every year and get very old before it reaches the cost of repair :)