They can work great. I've got a 50 1.8 from the same era that I really like and picked up for $20. Check the aperture blades in addition to the glass and make sure they smoothly move open and closed with no sticking by actuating the lever that stops down the aperture. Look for grunge on them in addition to just checking for fungus/glass condition. If you don't mind manual focus they can be a real treat. They will suffer more from flare due to the coatings. Make sure the aperture ring turns smoothly as well.
How much is it being sold for?
ETA: When I first started shooting with my old 50 1.8, I needed to program it into the camera under the "Non-CPU Lens" menu option so that it knew what aperture I was using. You just program it in and then you should be good to go. Keep in mind you won't be able to use shutter priority because the camera cannot automatically set the aperture, which is controlled by the aperture ring. As a result, you can shoot in M or A only. I'm not sure what this will mean for you since you do video and I have no experience in that.
Otherwise, mine meters fine and I really like the specific look it affords.
Message edited by author 2011-12-21 23:20:39. |
