It was a nice sunny day, and a good friend had a new camera he wanted to try out ¹, so we headed out on a photowalk. My friend is just getting into photography, so was fun to help him navigate the settings as he learned to adjust his exposure using all the tools he had at his disposal.

It was also fun for me because I decided to pull my Nikon D7000 out of it’s camera bag and attach my 55-300mm lens. It’s not been out for a walk since before Christmas, as I’ve been putting my G7 though its paces, but I thought it was time for it to stretch.

It didn’t go alone. I also brought my G7 along, sporting its wonderful 25mm lens. This made today’s stroll down by the river my first ever photowalk with two cameras ², and I was interested to see what the experience was like. It was a lot of fun!

I do enjoy a long telephoto lens, as it’s great for photographing the birds down by the river. That’s the one thing I’ve missed on my G7 so far. My longest focal length is 44mm, which is a bit limiting. Even a 105mm would be better. Taking along a second body freed me to pursue two styles of shooting – long telephoto and the type of personal framing you can get with a medium focal length prime.

The bird shots came out as I expected. I got some amazing photographs of sea gulls in the process of landing on the water, and that was well worth the effort of lugging a larger body and lens around with me. As always, the Nikon did an amazing job with the sharpness and image quality. It’s a quality piece of kit, and I love what it produces.

And yet, I found myself missing the G7 any time I raised my Nikon to my eye. After using the Panasonic’s electronic view finder for over a month, peering though my Nikon’s eyepiece looked drab. The image wasn’t as sharp, the colors were muted, and I missed the on-screen level. I must admit this shocked me. I used some early EVF’s and felt they created too much distance between me and my photography subjects, but the technology has improved to the point where I now feel more immersed into the scene when using an EVF ³. And the difference in weight between the two cameras is mind-blowing.

I never thought I’d be digging a mirrorless camera the way I am, but it’s where I am right now. My G7 has become my “everyday shutter,” while my Nikon has become a more deliberate tool. I find the speed at which this transition transpired fascinating.

You can see all my favorite photos from my two camera photowalk on my adobe portfolio.