I’ve been searching for a wide (and of course fast) prime lens lately. Sure I have the Nikon AF-S 24-70mm F2.8 G, which is a great zoom lens. But it’s not a lens that I take with me lightly because of it’s size and weight. Combined with the D700 the 24-70 makes for a pretty big gun, not a good appearance for spontaneous and travel photography. Then again, my small Nikon AF 35mm F2.0D isn’t wide enough for many land- and cityscapes.

Obviously the first candidate was Nikon’s recently introduced Nikon AF-S 24mm F1.4 G lens. Though probably the best choice in aperture and image quality, one glimpse at the price tag (currently at about 1800€) disqualifies it from the competition. That is simply way too expensive for my taste, at least for a wide prime. A 35mm F1.4 would be a different story for me, since the 35mm is the lens I use most – so I’m rather interested in what’s coming from Nikon in the next months. But back to the 24 – in addition, with the 1.4 aperture and AF-S comes a big volume, and this lens is still more than half as long as the 24-70.

So, what’s left to chose from? There’s the old Nikon AF 24mm F2.8D lens, and a rather recent Sigma AF 24mm 1.8 EX DG Asp Macro. Against better instincts I tried the Sigma first. Unfortunately it lived up to the bad expectations I had.

The Sigma is with F1.8 much faster than the old Nikon with F2.8, but that is in fact the only thing where this lens can really collect points. But with the speed comes size: even without the lens hood this thing is large, too large for my needs. The old Nikon has only half it’s length!

And then there are the details: the Autofocus is amazingly slow for a non-HSM drive and once you switch to manual focus (by using the awkward Sigma pullback mechanism) the focus ring was stiff as hell. The finish of the lens is the typical matte paint of Sigma lenses, not very sturdy if you ask me (I had a fair share of Sigma lenses). The lens I was looking for travels in my backpack, without any protection. This Sigma isn’t that lens for sure.

Therefore the choice was narrowed down to the Nikon AF 24mm F2.8D. For sure not as fast as I would have wished, but then again it’s very small and well build. And it is the cheapest of these three lenses.

It’s body is build nearly identical to the Nikon AF 35mm F2.0D. And that lens proved to be the sturdy, backpack traveling lens I was looking for. The AF is fast, focusing from 0.3 m to infinity doesn’t take more than a quarter rotation. Wide open at F2.8 it displays quite a lot of vignetting, even stronger than the Sigma at F1.8 – but I must admit that I really like this. Stopping it down to F4.0 removes the vignetting almost entirely anyhow.

So, in the end I chose the cheap and well build, but far from perfect lens. It’s the one that suits my needs best for an acceptable price.

Finally took some time do some more extensive cooking again.

Hungry little guest.

^^

Taking samples, what else…

Taking samples in the rain, looking funny.

THAT was not the plan. Sucking mud from 2 meters depth.

New lens in my bag. I started to prefer primes lately.

Catscan. Oh what a pun!

Another new lens in my… cupboard. I prefered the Canon, not to cause any unfortunate confusion.

Züricher mit Spätzle, selfmade of course.

Time to go home again, unfortunately :( But my trip home wasn’t straightforward – I made a detour for sentimental reasons, to refresh memories from my childhood by visiting the Île d’Oléron.

I don’t think it’s made for this, but it fits perfectly =)

The only piece of highway I drove on the 1500 km of route back home.

Closing in on the atlantic coast.

This is what happens when you give decisive power to navigation software and forget to exclude ferries…

I was lucky though, 5 minutes after I arrived at the ferry it started it’s way across the Garonne.

Finally crossing the Viaduc d’Oléron.

La Brée-les-Bains.

For years we played volleyball tournaments there in the summer. It’s a difficult memory, but somehow it feels sad that this tradition apparently has deteriorated gravely. Though, I even met someone there whom I knew from back then.

Same place, about a decade ago…

Saint-Denis-d’Oléron.

Once upon a time, this place was like a second home to me. Now I felt strangely out of place.

Same place, viewed from opposite directions and a time difference of 15 to 20 years. The lower one is actually a scan from an old film negative.

There used to be a camping site where this marina is located now.

Enjoying the beach for a little while.

Unfortunate vignetting by the polarization filter, even though it’s an extra slim one.

Tourism…

Remains of german occupation, slowly dropping into the sea as the coastline erodes.

Phare de Chassiron.

The initial plan was to stay the night there, enjoy the perseid meteor shower in it’s strongest night. Unfortunately the wind from the sea was so strong that it rocked the tripod, making star shots quite impossible and it also carried with it dense clouds just shortly after the sun vanished.

+

=

Taking cover from the strong (and cool) winds.

Nightfall at the beach.

I missed the ocean, and already I miss it again!

But I left there with the fall of night and drove until I found a small town near Cognac to spend the night.

Next morning, starting early when everything was still blue. Last day.

Still a thousand kilometers ahead.

Sunrise.

And there I was: 12 hours later, back in Germany, back in the rain. That’s it. But it seems there might be more travel on the horizon this year, though not as a vacation.

Reading data from temperature loggers for my diploma thesis. Good thing I kept the Thinkpad, it doesn’t really mind a little rain. By the way, there are still more shots from France in the pipeline, one entry every day ^^

Baking again…

Trying to shoot an ID photo. It’s not that easy if you’ve got one flash and an umbrella in the right hand an the trigger cord in the left ^^ That’s a huge umbrella for golfers by the way that works extremely well as a studio umbrella since it’s silver from the inside.

A little editing…

…and there’s the result (I know, the lighting sucks).

Finally did some running again.

Taking the first ground air samples.

Without comment ^^

Second day. Still on the road, after a short and uncomfortable night I was already moving when the sun rose.

I love driving in the early morning, when the mist is rising…

This fog wouldn’t clear up though. Might have missed some nice landscapes.

Short break in Auch. Beautiful sight.

I was quite lucky with the clouds.

On the road again. Finally, the Pyrénées in sight!

Hello again. In case anybody wondered why there were no new entries during the last weeks – I was on vacation in France, without access to the net but obviously with my camera. Since I had to go about 1400 km, this first day was spent driving. So was half of the second day. Don’t worry though – there’s a lot of boring pictures in this post, but I think the sunset is worth scrolling down ;)

Good weather to leave the country.

Rain.

Rain.

More rain.

Short break, found something in the radio. Still had a good playlist on.

Better weather?

Not exactly.

Short break in Eguisheim.

Extending the short break…

Gas, baguette and cookies. The latter two are favorites of mine ^^

Would have been lost without it.

Oh, rain again!

Sun.

Rain. The benefit was that the regular rain intervals kept the windshield clean.

Dark and looming from one side.

Bright and beautiful from the other side.

Goodbye daylight.

Time to search for a parking spot to spend the night.

Still searching. In the end I stopped past midnight somewhere in no-mans-land.

Hello down there…

Raaawww!

It started raining soon after.

Didn’t have the time to shoot my food lately. But I took the time to bake a quick cake.

Going to town.

Going home.

Finally made it up there again, first time this year. Went up twice, got to train at least a little bit for what’s coming next week.

Gathering data.

To create a little contrast, this sunflower shot is followed by a shot from work…

Physicists playing with mud again.

Another contrasting theme…

Fifth game.

Lost.

Another hot day, spent cycling the maze that is the Neuenheimer Feld in search of ground water measuring wells.

Found one…

…and another one.

University.

Shadowcat.

Fourth game.

Rain.

Rain & sun.

Rain, sun & I.

Playing with fire.

Stars. Test shots.

Ugly plastic + sunset & blue skies = a little less ugly.

First try bombed. Back to black. This time it went much better.

Third game. Anticipation…

Tasted much better than the weird color combo might suggest the eye.

Trying to shoot some images for future eBay auctions. Little bit disappointing.

Three in a row.

Another rather rare (and really good) one

Going to try more after dark shooting… if I find the time.

Slacklining.