Is it okay to ask for advice here when buying from places like eBay or Craigslist?

I don't mean price related inquiries which can be a touchy subject. Things like looking for fungus, haze, balsam separation, oil on aperture blades, and overall condition of the glass elements. Being a relative newb to photography and as such vintage lenses, I don't quite trust my eye yet to pick up more inconspicuous details. It has stopped me from buying vintage lenses in person at local shops.

any sort of Q regarding manual optics is welcome since the replies might be interesting to other optics- aficionados reading here. Info such as usual shortcomings as well as praise would be worthwhile. Provided the original request is precise enough. Sentences like " are xxxs good" can lead to long hagiographic descriptions. while questions about specific mechanical or optical issues will elicit more precise replies.

p.

You're right to be wary. Ebay is full of BS titles that mention serious flaws later in the descriptions.

Here's the thing about buying local - you should be able to ask to try it out. Bring an adapter, stick it on, do a couple of quick checks. If not possible, rotate all the rings, look through the glass and see if anything looks bad, do a slow visual once over, and then haggle. They want to sell, you want to buy. I've bought local lenses for as little as $5. If someone's got a piece of glass among a collection of "stuff", trust me, they want it gone.

You're gonna get a few lemons over the years. It happens. Just don't pay a lot for them and maybe figure out something creative to do with them. Currently needing to talk to an artist to see what she could do if I sent her some broken lenses to get creative with.

As said above, you should feel perfectly fine asking a question here about an eBay lens.

As also said above, I agree with buying local. I have personal never bought vintage lenses but I have had buddies do it. There is a fairly good chance that those lenses may have a problem or two but, if the price is right and it’s functional and works, those little issues might add just the character that you are looking for?

I also agree to “try it out” locally before buying. If you do “miss” something, I assume that we are talking about lenses that are in the $25-$50-ish range, you really aren’t out much. And, remember, you can sell that “problem” $40 lens yourself on eBay (properly described) for probably $20+ …..

I think that your desire to explore old glass is awesome!

Summary: go for it, buy local, try it out in store, and don’t sweat it too much.

Just from my humble experience I would check out first charity shops, swap meets for really low priced vintage lenses this is where I’ve found all my used film lenses from a Canon fd 55 mm 1.2 aspherical $20 to Nikon 28mm 2. $10 . Good luck .

There's no problem asking, reading reviews etc but there can be considerable sample variation with old lenses.
Sometimes you'll get claims a lens is useless, because a photographer got a bad copy or even doesn't know how to work with older hardware.

I've picked up loads of very cheap lenses over the years, even those with visible fungus can still give great images.
Admittedly most of my lenses are nothing special but I have managed to get a few gems (including a Carl Zeiss Jena 35mm flektagon for under £10).
I tend to avoid vintage zooms & generally don't go much above £50 for a lens so if I get a terrible example it's not a huge loss.

I can remember 3 disappointing lenses from e-bay - one claimed to be clear but had fungus (went back for a full refund) another claimed to be medium format but wasn't (also refunded in full), the last had the fault it was described as having but the internet fix didn't work (that one I still need to sort, my gamble didn't pay off).

I've personally purchase nearly 1,000 used lenses over the years. I used to buy up collections, clean pieces up and sell them, keep the ones I wanted and tossed the rest. When I was being a little more careful on one-off pieces I would do what others have mentioned already. Make sure the rings turn smoothly, that there's no oil leaking out anywhere, that the aperture moves freely. I also carried a small flashlight and would look through the lens from both directions at different angles, which shows any dust and where it is located. Then I will typically check over the filter rings. You'd be surprised how quickly noticing a compression at one section can tell you if the lens was dropped of not. After giving it a good physical look over, I will always attach it to a camera and take a series of test shots looking for different things. Sharpness (any strange additional fuzz going on). Alignment (I've had a few where an element was out of whack and a certain corner was softer than others). Color rendition (if there was any coating that helped, has it been 'wiped' off).

Then... HAGGLE. As others have said you can get great lenses dirt cheap.

As others have said, if you have the opportunity to buy local, then you should be able to try it out on your own camera first (assuming you have the right adapter, or combination of adapters to make it work). I used to get everything at pawn shops, but I don't live in a place where there is much available now. These days I buy from retailers or eBay, depending on what it is I'm looking for and how much. I generally set a limit of $50 for eBay purchases, $50 being the amount I am willing to lose if it is not what it seems. Anything over that I go to a retailer with a good return policy instead. It's more expensive that way but it makes my life easy.

Within my set limit eBay can be quite a good place to shop. I do check the seller's feedback numbers and read the comments, take a good look at the photos and ask questions when necessary. Where I have had problems it's been with the packaging. For some folks camera gear is not their primary interest and they don't have experience packaging it, so sometimes items I've received were damaged. In all cases the sellers made good on it, swapping for a different item or refunding me the money, and letting me keep it! (Which I had repaired.) Retail can bring (pleasant) surprises because they don't always list everything that comes with the item. On occasion I've bought something used that came with all the original packaging and accessories intact, but the description didn't mention it at all. I've had a few flops that I had to return but got my money back without a problem. So if you're wary, set strict limits on what you're willing to spend / lose, or go retail for assurance.