Problems with my Tokina SD 70-210mm 1:4-5.6 lens - no open aperture metering?

[altair]

Hi all.

I've just won this lens on eBay. It's reviewed here:

It arrived to me today. I mounted it on my Asahi Pentax KX, but noticed a problem. When changing to smaller apertures (from f/4 to f/16, say), the lens stops down immediately to the selected aperture. Hence, it's like stop-down metering, and the open-aperture metering of the PK system is gone. This is troubling because when it stops down, the image in the VF gets very dim..even at f/4 it's quite dim. I don't want to use this lens only at wide open aperture.

I then tried it on my ME Super..same problem occurs.

Has anyone had this sort of trouble with this lens?

I think I may have found a cause for it. Refer to the attached picture. Looking at the mount, I can see that the pin (I'm sorry but I don't know what it's called, it's the pin that opens up/stop down the lens when you move it) is present, but the 'tab' that's supposed to be near the pin is not there. What is the function of the 'tab'? And is it the culprit? If yes, why would anyone remove the 'tab'?

Would appreciate any input. Thanks in advance!

-Dani

P.S: And I think this lens might have the Ricoh pin..correct? Refer to the photo.

[mopar_guy]

For what it's worth, I own this lens in OM mount and the operation of the lens is normal. I have never experienced the problem you describe.

[lxdude]

It looks to me like the aperture lever, AKA, the 'pin', is bent inward and is not contacting the matching lever in the camera. The 'tab' might not have ever been on this lens. The function of the tab is to protect the pin from bending.

[John Koehrer]

It does look as though the lever is bent inward. It should be perpendicular to the backplate of the lens. I'd give it a little tweak to get it straight.
Use a small pliers and put tape on the lever or pliers to keep from scratching it.

[altair]

lxdude & John: Thanks very much! It turns out the pin WAS bent inwards, and that the tab wasn't probably present on this lens at all. Some pressure with my fingers got the pin straight again. Tested it on my KX and voila, it works!

Makes sense, because this lens was shipped without the rear caps..so the pin was probably bent in transit.

Thanks a lot, you guys rock! :)

[Kiron Kid]

Cool. The Vivitar Series 1, 70-210 lenses are sharper and faster (first three editions).

[altair]

Kiron Kid: Thanks for the suggestion. Yup, been meaning to get one of those in PK mount for some time now. But when this Tokina came up, I was attracted to it's compact size. Those Vivitars are quite big, aren't they? Plus, I won this Tokina for just $5..can't beat that :)

[kiku]

Hi Kiron Kid: I have a Vivitar Series 1, 28-105, F 2.8-3.8, serial #09850867 on my Canon T-90. I have always wondered who the mfg. was and your opinion of its quality. Your remarks would be greatly appreciated. Howard Tanger

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