5 days!

Regular readers of my blog will know that I have had ongoing issues with one of my lenses and its aperture diaphragm operation. Well, my patience is almost wore out now after it has failed once again.

I picked it up from my local repair shop this past Saturday and was pleased to be able to shoot with it once more. So much so that I was specifically shooting subjects with it in mind, including most of the recent photos I ave posted here and on my website. 

Today I went to use it and noticed I was not having the viewfinder darken when I activated the DoF button on my camera so I popped the lens off to check the aperture function. As you have likely guessed, the aperture diaphragm is "stuck" open for some reason (either gummed up/failed diaphragm blades or the actuator spring has detached again). Either way, the lens is only usable at one aperture setting and as this is about the 6th time of failure, I am seriously reconsidering weather it is worth pursuing any further repairs as I'll soon be out the value of the lens in repair costs.

You may be wondering where the 5 days bit comes from.....let me explain. This past Thursday when I was making my second visit to the Route 66 Village, I noticed a few photos seemed a little off on exposure but didn't think much of it as the light was so changeable. Today, after finding the lens had failed again I took a second look at the meta-data for the photos. I saw that the ones that appeared off where shot at apertures of f4 or f8 BUT the diaphragm was stuck at f2.8!