faulty aperture on lens

I picked up a Vivitar series 1 28 - 90 mm PK mount lens in a charity shop for £3.00 but it's faulty, when I open the aperture up (using the lever at the mount end of the lens) and then release it instead of snapping instantly back to the f11 or whatever it is set to, it slowly returns to f11 (hope that makes sense). Everything else appears to be fine and in good condition.

I've read good reports on these Vivitar series 1 lenses but I'm assuming that it's not worth getting it repaired.

As you can probably tell I'm a novice but I was thinking that if I cut the lever off could I use it as a preset or manual lens? I'm assuming that I wouldn't be able to meter through it on my ME super though.

You could use it with the 2 second delay - that should give the aperture time to close down before the picture's taken. Better than nothing!

the sticky apperture is a common fault on older lenses. I'm not familiar with the lens you mention, but if it is a good one then it should be reparable. If it's a really good one it might even be worth it.

Hefty

My ME super doesn't have a 2 sec. delay only a self timer.

Mongoose - the lens is probably not worth the cost of repair

Am I right in thinking that if I remove the bar/lever that the camera uses to close the aperture blades then the aperture will be as selected by the f stop ring ie for f2.8 wide open and for f16 closed down ( is this called stop down metering?)

If this is the case will I not be able to use the lens without overexposing? all be it with out TTL metering -

afraid I'm a bit of a dumbo when it comes to this stuff

If you do that you will end up with a useless lens that is always wide open. It's the lever that operates the stop-down when it is activated by the camera's internal link.

A sticky diaphragm will mean over-exposed results by the way.

Why not just try warming it up a little in the airing cupboard and then operating the lever a lot to see if you can restore the lubrication which I assume has aged.

Mike

Try also very gently bending the lever back to a central position - sometimes the lever binds agaisnt the side of the slot and slows aperture movement. Otherwise, it could be oil on the blades. This should be visible on the blades.

Thanks folks

why go to the trouble?
A bargian if it works, but if it doesn't, hardly worth the trouble...
what other lenses do you have?

Gromit,

Take one of your functioning lenses and compare the little black tab sticking out of the back (mounting) end, with your Vivitar. These tabs should be exactly parallel to the fixed piece beside them and move VERY freely. If the tab is bent either inwards or outwards, try to straighten it (what have you got to lose?).
They get bent very easily.
If you can save it, Vivitar 1 lenses are usually very good - I prize an 80 - 200mm zoom for Pentax, and my daughter has one on her Minolta Maxxum which she seldom removes.

Best of luck!