Repairing a Stuck Aperture on Vivitar Series 1 28-300mm Camera Lens

Guide ID: 55122 - Draft: 2016-06-27

Introduction

Symptom: Badly exposed pictures. Depending on the way the aperture is stuck, you'll see mostly all pictures over- or underexposed, regardless of manual aperture settings. Autofocus also doesn't find correct settings.

Tools Required:

Phillips #00 Screwdriver (1)

Step 1 — First Check of Aperture Moving

Image description: A view of the camera lens mount showing electrical contacts and a red arrow pointing to the aperture lever mechanism.

Move the lever back and forth and look through the lens. The aperture on a good lens should open and close and spring back into position.

Step 2

Image description: The lens mount showing three small black screws circled and one on the side indicated by an arrow. A second image shows the contact plate held by two black screws.

Remove the 3 little black screws (circled) and the one on the side (arrow).
Remove the two black screws holding the contact plate in place. Lift the contact plate slowly. Underneath the contact plate sits a tiny spring, which is held in a hole pressing against the contact plate from below.

Step 3 — Remove the Inner Tube

Image description: A hand holding the inner tube of the camera lens.

Gently take out the inner tube. Be careful with the contact plate, as it is connected with fine wires to the optical parts and cannot be removed.

Step 4

Image description: A view inside the lens mount with a red arrow pointing to the aperture lever.

Extend the lens to its full length (zoom to 300mm) and look at the inside for the aperture lever. The image shows it correctly gripping the lower aperture lever. If there is a problem, the two parts may not line up and connect to each other.
You can try to put it back in place from this point. Use tweezers or a plastic spudge: the upper part can gently be bent to snap back into place.
In this case, another problem was noticed: the lever would not move with ease and seemed to get stuck. It's time to remove the metal ring.

Step 5 — Remove the Metal Ring

Image description: Three images showing the lens mount with four screws circled on the metal ring, the removed metal ring with the aperture-moving lever, and a close-up of the ring and lever with an arrow pointing to a retaining ring.

Unscrew the 4 screws and take off the metal ring. The aperture-moving lever is attached to the metal ring, so you need to slide it off carefully.
The lever has a small spring attached to the metal ring; keep both parts together to save the spring.
The retaining ring (indicated by an arrow) took some time to identify; it does not belong in that position but rather fell out from near the removed metal ring.

Step 6 — Put Retaining Ring Back onto Metal Ring

Image description: Three images illustrating the reassembly: 1) Lens mount with aperture lever and retaining ring being placed back into the metal ring, with arrows indicating the lever and spring. 2) Close-up of the aperture lever and retaining ring. 3) Lens body showing the autofocus pin.

The problem was that the retaining ring had snapped off the metal ring, allowing the aperture lever too much room to move and disconnect from the lower aperture lever.
Put the aperture lever (see left arrow) and the retaining ring back into the metal ring as shown in the picture. Connect the spring (see center arrow) if it was disconnected.
The lever was bent slightly to improve grip onto its opposing part.
In the upper left part of the first picture, the autofocus pin is visible; this needs to be aligned in the lens body during re-assembly.
There are three metal rings on the lens body; do not mix them up. The picture shows the correct order.

Step 7 — Re-assembly

Image description: A view of the lens mount with the metal ring re-attached.

This can become a little tricky. It is best to extend the lens to its full length. Put the metal ring back and align the autofocus pin with the gear wheel in the lens body. Slightly turn it with a screwdriver until it fits into the hole of the gear wheel. At the same time, try to align the two aperture levers so they are connected.

Step 8

Image description: The lens mount showing screws circled, indicating where to put the remaining parts back.

Put the remaining parts back. Always tighten the screws very loosely at first and then continue tightening them in a starway fashion (opposite sides).

Step 9 — Bonus Pictures

Image description: Three detail shots of lens components: 1) Lens mount. 2) Inner tube and lens parts. 3) Decoder contacts on the lens.

In case you wish to disassemble further, here are some detail shots of what to expect. These are not necessary for the aperture fix.
Removing the 4 black screws lets you remove the big optical tube. Slide it out carefully.
You can see some decoder contacts: clean them and look for eventual problems.
The optical part could not be removed from the housing. Hopefully, iFixit members can provide further assistance.

Arbeite die Schritte in umgekehrter Reihenfolge ab, um dein Gerät wieder zusammenzubauen.

	Repairing a Stuck Aperture on Vivitar Series 1 28-300mm Camera Lens A step-by-step guide for repairing a stuck aperture mechanism on the Vivitar Series 1 28-300mm camera lens, addressing common issues like incorrect exposure and autofocus problems.
	Vivitar v3800n Camera Frame Counter Replacement Guide A step-by-step guide from iFixit on how to replace the frame counter in a Vivitar v3800n film camera. This guide covers disassembly, repair, and reassembly, requiring basic tools like glue and screwdrivers.
	Vivitar 84P Super 8 Movie Camera Instruction Manual Comprehensive instruction manual for the Vivitar 84P Super 8 Movie Camera, detailing its features, operation, specifications, troubleshooting, and available accessories.
	Vivitar VIV-35MM-S 35mm f/1.4 High Speed Aspherical Lens Instruction Manual Instruction manual for the Vivitar VIV-35MM-S 35mm f/1.4 High Speed Aspherical Lens, detailing its features, specifications, usage instructions, troubleshooting guide, and warranty information.
	Vivitar XO 7 Camera Replacement Guide A step-by-step guide to removing and replacing the camera module on the Vivitar XO 7 tablet. Includes necessary tools and detailed instructions for disassembly and reassembly.
	Vivitar v3800n Camera Frame Counter Replacement Guide A step-by-step guide from iFixit on how to replace the frame counter in a Vivitar v3800n camera, including disassembly and reassembly instructions.
	Vivitar Automatic T-4 Lens System Owner's Manual - Photography Guide Detailed owner's manual for the Vivitar Automatic T-4 Lens System, covering lens specifications, adapter usage, preparation, mounting, removal, and maintenance for photographers.
	Vivitar XO 7 Camera Replacement Guide Step-by-step instructions for replacing the camera module on a Vivitar XO 7 tablet. This guide covers disassembly, battery removal, and camera component access.