Originally posted by wlachan It can be opened and and have the blades rearranged and adjusted to your liking. I have done this to my own FA43 & FA77.
Hmm, I've taken my SMC-M 50mm apart for cleaning and had no problems (besides screwing the plastic front bezel back into the banged-up filter thread - yes, it was an e-bay purchase). Is this much harder with an FA lens? I've got access to a class 100 cleanroom and all the tools I need. I would not take apart a brand new lens, but it's good to know such things.
Actually, I just checked and both my old 18-55 and 50-200 kits look fairly similar aperture wise when stopped down just a tad. The 16-50's 9 blades align nicely though, as they bloody well should considering its price.
You seem to have seen a lot of these defects, wlachan. As far as aperture misalignment goes, is my sample reasonable or would you say it warrants an exchange?