Because the subject was 24 mm and 28 mm lenses, I could provide a fresh sample from a inexpensive Tokina RMC 24 f2.8 in low light at full aperture and other relevant information how the image was produced. These lenses have a bit of cinematic quality.

GH1 camera that I used has a problem known as "fixed pattern noise", the texture of the image is a bit flawed and this flaw becomes visible when the camera turns horizontally. So at the moment I can not produce quite as fine looking video as the stills grabbed from the video.

It may be good to note that if lens is less contrasty it appears brighter. Same kind of result could be had by lifting the levels of a more contrasty lens. Not saying that this has to be the case in the comparison you mentioned, but the Rokkors are known to often have plenty of contrast.

Speaking of the sharpness of vintage wide angle, here is just one more sample from a Tokina 17 mm f3.5 that captured detail nicely. Optical resolution is likely to be the same as in Lumix 14 mm, but without sharpening that could not be turned off for video.

@lenuisible Ok, no problem. I did a test with the Canon FD 20mm 2.8 and it is not sharp in corners wide open, but this behavior is shown in full frame still film camera also, maybe it is a bad copy. Just this one shows sharpness problems, all other still lenses i tested perform good. If you can, give a try to your lens in the default rangefinder body, if it performs bad in the original film body it will be lens issue, not gh2 issue, like i found in the Canon 20mm 2.8 test.

Wide rangefinder lenses are a very different construction as opposed to lenses for SLRs, they are not retrofocus.

You can expect them to perform poorly on electronic sensors because of the angle that the light is coming in, even a Leica M-8 has difficulties:

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m8-forum/34426-wate-pink-corners.html

So, if you want to go Leica, go Leica-R, not -M.

Rangefinder lenses should be good starting from 50mm.

@LongJohnSilver Can you tell if the ML 24 has similar image to ML 28?

I am eagerly awaiting delivery of a ML 28 f2.8, and if the ML 24 continues the same type of image line as the other lenses, might make me to commit to the much heftier purchase price of the ML 24. These are high contrast lenses that benefit from a little bit of contrast reducing filtering to my experience with ML 35 f2.8 and ML 50 f1.7. Images look similar to comparable Contax Zeiss, other than the lesser coating as was already mentioned.

Speaking of Vivitars and Tokinas, I just tested older Tokina made Vivitar 24 f2.8 (serial starts with 37). It is unfortunately not quite as sharp as a newer Tokina 24 f2.8. This is a pity, because the construction of the Vivitar is really good and solid and feels to the hand like a "real" lens. There are Vivitar 24 and 28 mm lenses labeled as Close Focus, and they are supposedly sharp even wide open. When available their price is the same as comparable Nikkors, though.

Thanks for the info. I received a Yashica ML 28 f2.8 in mint condition today and was eager to test it, but from the first moment I could notice that it did not have that great "snap" focus of the Yashica ML 35 f2.8 or even the Yashica ML 35-70 f3.5-4.8 zoom lens.

Everything else is great, contrast is very high and blacks go to black very quickly. Sharpness at full aperture f2.8 falls a bit short. However, it is a 25 year old inexpensive lens and there may be sample variations. Plus I may be demanding too much. Also, to make the bokeh match might mean giving up a little bit of the sharpness. Resistance to flare is a lot better than Minolta MD 28 f2.8. Minolta is sharper but bokeh leaves something to be desired and there is little resistance to flare.

So the ML 28 f2.8 may not be the game changer for me and the search is still on for the perfect 24 and 28 mm lens. Tokina RMC 24 f2.8 is close, though, but falls just a tiny bit short. If this becomes a great challenge, then it might be easier to change the camera to a one with wider sensor. I already have several lenses starting from 35 mm that have made the cut for cinema production, ML 35 f2.8 being one.

One option is to try a slower 28 mm lens for hopefully improved sharpness at full aperture and there are several of them available before going the big buck Leica, Zeiss or Nikon route for sharp 24 and 28 mm.

I have a Nikkor 24mm AIS that I've yet to find any flaws with. And also a handful of decent 28mm M42 lenses which work fairly well except in some bright high contrast situations.

I can highly recomend the Nikkor 28/2 AIS - lovely old school glass.

Superb lens. It's AI not AIS, AIS is 2.8. These are legendary lenses.

I have a mint Nikkor 28mm f2. I can let it go for $350 + shipping + paypal if anyone is interested. They go for $400+ on ebay,

@aki_hartikainen I have no experience with 24mm. The shot above was at f2.8 on D700. The drawing at f2 is better.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/ai28mmf20/pool/with/5084987374/#photo_5084987374

i have a Vivitar 28mm f2.0 Its not the Kiron version and it is pretty sharp if you stop it down 1 notch, at f2.0 it blooms a bit. Got it dirt cheap, but its one of my favorite old manual lenses.

That's good to hear, looking forward to acquire some of the mentioned lenses. Recently I discovered that the Minolta Macro Rokkor 50 mm f3.5 belongs to the cinematic class. I read that Minolta did not recommend using other MD close focus lenses for archival purposes, but the Macro Rokkors instead. This has to mean higher optical standards. Macro Rokkor 50 @ f3.5 turns the humble GH1 into a cinematic camera, atleast for suitable scenes.

If it is not out of line, at fourseasonshd.com front page I updated the video and now has several scenes from several of the aforementioned lenses in action. There are both heavily graded and ungraded scenes. Tokina RMC 24 f2.8 is the "lamest", but only by hair. Yashica ML 35 f2.8 and Macro Rokkor 50 f3.5 turn the GH1 into a better camera than intended.

To be able to use these lenses on a wider sensor would open opportunities for cinematic scenes, I'm sure.

It would be wider on a full frame. But I see the point and back to the topic (somewhat). I just received a mint Pentacon 30 f3.5. This is very highly regarded by many photographers and is made in East Germany but using the original Meyer-Lydith design. You could read something here: http://www.mflenses.com/pentacon-30mm-f35-lens-review.html

Lens construction is not ideal, every ring seems to have a bit of play and the focus is a bit stiff. This could become a problem with follow focus, but that remains to be seen. It was already getting dark, so no good test images could be made. But I got this one rather filmic contrast for one image using a little bit of curves and levels. It is noisy at high ISO.

I should refrain from posting more comments or images before I know more about this lens, but certainly looks interesting. The angle of view is interesting and price is literally a tenner or two.

Yes, it is certainly worth investigating and I will get to that shortly.

I also seem to have one Kiron made Vivitar 28 mm f2 (serial starts with 22). While it can not be considered very high quality image at wide open, it is atleast bright. The bokeh is "interesting", to put it mildly and out of focus in the front shows ghosting. But even that kind of image may have some limited use. I seem to have no sample images at all, so it looks like I gave up on it. That does not mean it could not be used for something. And it sharpens when stopped down.

The FD version can be stopped down by half aperture and becomes more useful already. MD version does not have half stop between 2 - 2.8.