Hello everyone
I've been on this list for about two months, and have not yet posted to it,
but I have enjoyed reading the various lines of discussion.
I wonder if someone could take the time to read through this, and tell me if
what I've been told is true?
A short while ago, I got hold of a Zuiko 85mm f2 lens in almost perfect
condition. Before I bought it, I did all the tests in the FAQ on the lens, and
it passed with no difficulty. In particular, I noticed that when the aperature
ring was set to f16 (stopping it down as much as possible), the lens stayed
wide open (until, of course, the depth of field preview button was pressed or
the shutter fired).
Now, as I'm sometimes a very silly cow, I managed to drop this fine piece of
work, and thankfully (if that was the right word to use) the only apparent
damage was that the depth of field preview didn't work, i.e. the button was
just 'loose'.
I took my beautiful lens to a local shop for repair, and it was returned to me
after a week. The depth of field preview button works fine, but as I move the
aperature ring from f2 gradually to f16, the aperature blades close slightly
(about f4 to f5.6) and remain that way. When the depth of field preview is
closed (or the shutter fired) the aperature closes down as it should, and
returns to the partially closed state (f4 - f5.6).
I pointed this out (along with a rather alarming foreign body that had found
itself on the inside of the rear lans group) and he's had the lens for 10
days. He tells me that the f2 is designed to close down slightly as the
aperature ring is turned, and there isn't that much space in the lens barrel
to accommodate this.
Now, I know this is probably asking a lot of you (after all, you have got
lives of your own to lead!) but is this true about the aperature closing? Is
he making this up? I know I'm a complete fool for dropping the thing in the
first place, and I appreciate I could easily have damaged the lens quite
badly, but if it's broken why doesn't he just tell me so? I can live with this
minor 'undocumented feature', and I don't want to throw money at futile
repairs.
If the guy is having me on, can anyone recommend somewhere I can get it fixed
in the UK...?
Out of interest, I have a Zuiko 28-48 f4 zoon, which has been a great little
thing to use over the years. Now, I found, after checking all my other lenses,
this lens is the only one that exhibits anything like a similar sort of
behavior, but it has difference characteristics. The aperature on this lens
closes down gradually as you move from 48mm to 28mm on the zoom ring, and this
is independent of the aperature ring setting. I've never noticed this before
(and this is not surprising given the size of the hole the light has to go
through, even when open!). Is this normal? My 75-150 f4 doesn't do this at all
(however, I did once drop this one down the side of a cliff!).
Your thoughts will be greatly appreciated, and I'm sorry if I've broken any
hearts by wrecking such a fine piece of equipment.
Miranda
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