I have a 50mm S.S.C. that I have been using for about six months now, and all of a sudden, it no longer stops down. It is stuck wide open at 1.4. I'm guessing the aperture linkage somewhere in the lens is broken or bent or something. Anyone know of a fix for this this? Should I just buy another one?

Thanks,

Stephen R.

-- Stephen Reynolds (deyd@hot1.net), March 19, 2001

Answers

Stephen
I just picked up a lens like yours with the same problem. Mine just had some oil on the aperature blades. Shouldn't cost too much to fix, I did mine myself.
Good Luck,
Kirby

-- Kirby Chilton (kirbyc@prodigy.net), March 19, 2001.

It's a great lens, but plentiful and inexpensive. The cost of a CLA is going to be about the same as the cost of the lens in EX condition. I'd either buy another and keep the old one as a backup, or do some research, see if I could clean and lubricate it myself just for the learning experience, and if it didn't work out, then buy another.

-- David Goldfarb (dgoldfarb@barnard.edu), March 20, 2001.

For reference, the shops in my area charge about $80 (2 hours labor) for most lens repairs/CLAs.

The advantage of having your lens fixed, is you know it is right, and it is also clean.

-- Terry Carraway (TCarraway@compuserve.com), March 22, 2001.

I just had a 35mm lens with that problem plus some wobble fixed for $45 at International Camera Repair in Pasadena, CA. They did a good repair.

You might be able to replace your lens for about the same money, but then you have another 30 year old lens that's never been CLA'd.

-- Dave Mason (dmason@crystalstairs.org), August 07, 2001.