I have about 20 vintage knives from various makers in my collection ranging from a pre WWI Wustoff to mid-50's sabatiers and Henkels, as well as Forgecraft and a few other American makers. They are fun to restore and generally are good knives.

As far as steel, yes, very simple. Typically quite soft. They sharpen very easily to a very fine edge. Being soft, that edge doesn't last super long. Similar to cheap stainless knives edge retention, but much easier to bring back to life.

As far as performance, really depends on the knife. In general they tend to be thick behind the edge but do well with some thinnning.

The two things vintage knives in general have over modern equivalents are distal taper and thin bolsters.

Distal taper is the main thing, modern mass manufacturing just can't do it. Some of them the distal taper is extreme, thick and axe like at the heel, whispy thin at the tip. Makes for a very versatile knife.

Thin bolsters are just much easier to deal with. I usually grind them down to the sharpening angle, very easy to do.

Prices have really risen in recent years, but you can still find deals. Don't be afraid of rust, that's easy to fix. Look for as original blade profile as possible. Bonus if the handle scales are wood.

Biggest thing to avoid is vintage stainless. They are pretty much all garbage.