I am a gear hoarder.

BUT I’m trying to change that. Just sold my Fuji X100v… and although I’m happy it’s going to get used by someone, I’m still sad to see it go!  Took one last trip with it yesterday.

Here are some photos from my adventure: 

This shot is one of the reasons I love the X100v so much. It’s just a snapshot. I pointed the X100v blindly through the front windshield as I drove.

I headed into Iowa for this trip, driving for about 30 minutes or so to get out into some deeper country near Missouri Valley, Iowa. 

My first stop! The X100v is great, but in point and shoot mode it can struggle with high contrast scenes like this one. 

Luckily the files shape up quickly. 

The X100v’s 35mm full-frame equivalent lens is pretty great. I keep finding 35mm my happy medium for almost anything I shoot, from medium scenes like the one above, all the way to details like these: 

The plot of land I found had a dozen or so cars on it. With the evening light, I was able to get some shots I’m happy with. 

The scene was tough to move around in. There were a lot of trees to navigate, and I kept checking myself for ticks as I moved. 

Throughout my shooting I kept my eye on the sky and the time. I wanted to be home at a decent time to tell my son and wife good night, and I also wanted to explore a bit more of the roads around me. 

Again, the X100v is crazy versatile. From those details above to “landscape” scenes like the one above, it just creates some amazing images. 

This was the shiniest barn I’ve ever seen. I was happy with this shot from the road. I had only one shot really with a semi coming fast behind me, so I snapped this and took off!

Roadside memorials are all over the place, and I sometimes stop to photograph them. 

We all share one common destination, and these are a reminder to me to love every moment I can. 

Just a few minutes later I saw a scene that looked pretty cool, but I couldn’t get it all with the X100v. I’ve found that taking “panorama” images and merging them is a great solution for when I need a wider lens than what’s on the X100v. 

Here are the three shots I used for this scene;

Just beyond this hill was another cool spot:

With the light quickly fading, I almost turned around to go home after this shot, but I wanted to see what was down the next road. There’s always “the next road.”  

I found this scene and cursed loudly since there were no clouds. 

When there’s no clouds, get close: 

Or just play with what you have. The moon here rocks: 

Just behind the scene, a photo made kind of cool with the dramatic light and shadows:

I THOUGHT this was my last stop of the day:

The X100v is so good at getting close:

I put my camera in the bag, thinking I was done for the night… until I came across this monster truck. You never know what you’re going to find in the country: 

As far as why I’m letting go of my X100v, it’s a simple thing: my new all-arounder is the Olympus OM-1. 

Here is a shot comparing the two cameras at a full-frame 35mm perspective on a road:

Beyond the aspect ratio, the cameras are both pretty awesome. The X100v has better image quality, but the OM-1 is more versatile. 

And that’s it. These are the last of the shots I’m ever likely to take with one of my favorite cameras of all time.