Tested the wide angle Minolta 21mm from wide open F/2.8 to F/8 on the GH2. Hacked setting used was the 'Apocalypse Now' Nebula 6GOP sharp variation. To my eyes it is quite a low contrast producing image that comes out of the 21mm, coupled with the AN444 it is super flat. So it may be harder to see the sharpness with the lack of contrast between lines. I did a little warm colour grading to match the heat of an Arabian camel :)

Suggest me any tests you would like me to do, also have 28mm F/2 to test next.

Because you are interested here is some more test footage from the 21mm.

I put just one more close range sample from the MD 35 f2.8 + Oly 0.8x combination. There is little or no ghosting in the ticker and the text. If I tried to use the Pentacon 30 f3.5 for similar image, there might be ghosting in the ticker and the text due to curved focal plane (supposedly). However, the Pentacon does better when distance to the subject grows and pulls ahead of the MD/Oly combo.

If I make a very preliminary summary of the 24 and 28 mm lenses that I know, it would be:

Tokina RMC 24 f2.8 - rather good overall, no major weaknesses. Some barrel distortion and lower contrast at full aperture. Requires hood.

Minolta MD 28 f2.8 - very sharp even at full aperture, good contrast and no distortion. Bokeh questionable. Little or no resistance to flare from point sources.

Yashica ML 28 f2.8 - some lack of sharpness at full aperture. Very high contrast. Bokeh questionable. Strong resistance to flare.

Pentacon 30 f3.5 - supposedly curved focal plane and some ghosting at close range. Strong and strange character otherwise (swirly bokeh etc.).

Minolta MD 35 f2.8 + Oly 0.8x - good close range and little or no ghosting. Some "bokeh loss" and some barrel distortion. May require stopping down for adequate sharpness. Requires hood (needs to be custom made).

Sample variations are always possible at this vintage and inexpensive category. Feel free to add your conclusions.

Would you have some samples, I would be interested in Nikon lenses too.

@RRRR which version of the 28mm lomo do you use? could you post some test shots? they are quiet cheap...

speaking of old wide glass, these are my recommendations (I never got a Nikon AI I always got out bit on eBay ...):

1. Olympus OM G.ZUIKO 28mm f3.5 - I love the look it renders, very compact, sharp wide open (no need to stop down), fantastic build quality. Can be found cheep because of f3.5 ...

2. SMC PENTAX-A 20mm f2.8 - not as sharp and fast as the pancake 20mm 1.7 but can be used on a full frame body as well, has very good build quality, low distortion. Was my favorite lens with the Canon 7D

3. Contax Carl Zeiss T* Biogon 21mm f2.8 - almost as sharp as the 20mm 1.7, zero distortion, the Metabones Contax G adapter adds the required big focus ring but its not always smooth to operate. The lens has a plastic protection for the rear element which has to be removed in order to fit it to a mft camera. Aperture can be declicked without having to open the optical part.

aki_hartikainen, which Minolta 28/2.8 MD lens do you have? I have the plain-MD 7/7, and it has excellent flare resistance.

I'll post some next week when I have the time to shoot something more worthwhile :) I'll also use the MD 35mm 1.8 to make up for the wait :). Initial impressions tell it's one of Minolta's best wide angle as it is sharp at F/2, just slightly loss of contrast, a little flare resistant but will flare like any usual wide angle with lights pointed at the lens. It gives an interesting 'red' Lomo like flare if light skims the front element, it is coated red-pinkish. It deals very kindly to skin-tones making them softer and creamy. THE COLOURS - are beautiful :)

@matt_gh2

It was shot in northern Sweden and it´s a band that is pretty fresh.. this is a release from their debut album which is in the works. For coloring it´s a long story but to keep it short: I colored in After Effects, using both ColorGHear and other tools. I made the room more hazy in post with a diffusing effect and for the break-part (with the "strobes") I increased contrast a lot but retained some of the "haze" by keeping black levels relatively high.. If you want more detailed information I could show you some before and after when I got the time. :)

As a curiosity perhaps, I had the people dance in slow-motion with the music at half speed for the break part. :)

Personally, I gave up trying to find a useful wide angle. I think the 22mm is the widest I´d go for normal use, the 18mm I find introduces too much CA and is too soft to be matched with the others. (stopped down a lot, it can maybe work but it feels like it´s a completely different lens-lineup) There´s a super-fast EKRAN 18mm which I´m sure performs well, but it´s also insanely expensive. :)

If you check out tests of illumina cine lenses you´ll find that there is quite a step there too between 18mm and the 20-something lenses (same optical schemes essentially as the super fast EKRAN made lomos). Much more controlled than my own Lomos of course, and completely negligible when stopped down.

@matt_gh2

Thanks, will do!

I recently got a flektogon 20mm f4 (there is also the faster f2.8, supposed to be similar at f4 but a bit faster) which I feel could work very nicely with the lomos. (not yet tested but all the ddr glass seems to be reasonably close to the Lomos - and there are some great ones for macro) Mind, the 28mm has really been the sweet spot for me (an absolute go-to lens on the gh2), wide enough most of the time, but also interesting up close.

Any wider than 20 though and I´d go towards any "clinical" lens and adjust it afterwards.. (make a profile for it) That´s why I got the 12-35, it´s the one Id use when a neutral starting point would be useful for post. I´m not sure It´s going to be easy to match, anyway.. (but it´s what I would do).

Would anyone be able to comment their observation of the difference between the plain MD's and the older MD rokkors?

I know that my plain MD 28mm has a flat film like glass on the end of the glass and i get a ghosting effect similar to having a UV filter at night time but in daytime which is annoying. If i look at this thin layer at a acute angle it shines red-pinkish which can be used effectively to give a nice romantic warmth if light skins this thin layer.

I have looked at my MD. W Rokkor 35mm 1.8 and it lacks this glass layer. I have looked at images of the plain MD 35mm 1.8 and it has the same thin pinkish layer as my plain 28mm f2. I will do some testing to see if these differences have an effect on image quality. I know that my 28mm has very nice colour saturation and contrast.

vivitar 24mm is a good lens indeed, but nikkor is great ;)