old prime lenses

[l33th3tr33]

So I've been having a gander at old primes for my D3100, I can't afford a newer prime at the moment due to the car needing a cambelt and brakes.
Now I know there won't be any autofocus and I'd need to adjust aperture manually so that's not a problem.
Basically I'd like to know if it's going to be worth the 30-40 quid for one.

Regarding use, I do a bit of everything except portraits, Night photography being my favourite, along with small projects like water droplets and the typical car shots.

 

[The Fatty]

I still have some sigma len's (not DX) and used to use them, but tbh the lack of autofocus started to become a pain so I just got some new dx format lenses and having ouch the others since. you might find the same.

 

[l33th3tr33]

I don't use the camera regularly though, and I've got a couple old lenses that obviously aren't able to autofocus and it doesn't really bother me. I was thinking more along the lines of Image quality.

Also, apparently (so I've read) the bokeh isn't all that on older primes, is this true?

 

[The Fatty]

I cant comment on that. keep in mind the crop ratio when buying older lenses though as that is sometimes overlooked (i.e. a 100mm non-dx lens wont be 100mm on your camera).

 

[l33th3tr33]

Yeah I know that a 35/38 would equal to roughly 50mm on a cropped frame.

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

I've got an old Vivitar 28mm f2.8 that I use now and again.
Think I only paid around 20 for it and probably 20 for the Canon fitment adapter.
Should start using it more as it's a fairy good lens. Will also look at some other Vivitar ones too I think maybe some wider ones if I can get them cheap.

 

[l33th3tr33]

I've got a fujifilm f2.8 macro lens that I got from a car boot sale, for a fiver! It's quite a nice lens to use, bit beaten up externally but it functions perfectly. There's a guy who sells on ebay only a few streets away too but he rarely has anything worth buying which is a shame.

 

[l33th3tr33]

Well I've just won this, as a spur of the moment thing. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121200805258 Can't be bad for the price, and as long as the damage to the front threads is all that's damaged then happy days!