A completely manual lens that is optically very very good. Even better: it's also very cheap. You can get a good copy for around €30,- on eBay or Marktplaats (dutch). Mine even came with a UV-filter and a set of (metal!) macro extention tubes.
So why bother with an old lens like this?
I'll cut to the chase: getting an old lens is a great way to get fast and optically very good glass cheap. Which is great as we are on a budget.
As much as it pains me to say: optically speaking, lenses haven't improved much the last couple of decades. New lenses have become cheaper even though they have more electronics in them, but at the expense of build quality. Old lenses may lack the electronics (such as fancy stuff like auto focus and image stabilization), but are usually very well build. This one is all metal.
For astrophotography, I don't need stabilization, auto focus or even automatic aperture control. I shoot in M- or bulb-mode which basically treats every lens like a full manual lens anyway. This makes a vintage lens a great choice!
I've already played with this lens in daylight, using the macro tubes and such: great fun! I'll do some astro test shots tonight (can't wait to take it for a spin) and do a write up later.
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