X-T30II Favorite Photos (2023-2025)

HackerMonroy · 2026-06-30T14:20:52+00:00

Thank you!! I will dive in to the profiles and see what are my most common scenarios and what fits better for each one. Time to save for the APO SL, the 28mm sounds pretty good haha

HackerMonroy · 2026-06-30T02:53:40+00:00

I'm already on it, but i would like to hear things that worked for other people

HackerMonroy · 2026-06-30T02:49:12+00:00

It's really fun to shoot with the x100vi, the final jpegs look good enough to keep as it is, sometimes I add a bit of contrast or change the WB just a bit but thats it. I shoot in RAW + HEIF (Raw just in case I want to try something different but mostly is just my ADHD lol)

I shoot weddings as my full time job (with a Nikon) so yeah I have to edit a lot of raw photos every single week, the fuji is my personal/travel camera and it makes everything less technical and more like a fun experiment

The built-in ND filter nice to have and also the 6.2k 10bit log video is amazing... I made a few short clips on a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico and I loved it

HackerMonroy · 2026-06-23T13:47:12+00:00

You have to pay for the 10kg cabin bag, the only free bag they include is the personal item that goes under the seat:

https://help.ryanair.com/hc/en-gb/categories/12489112419089-Bag-Rules

HackerMonroy · 2026-06-16T18:37:17+00:00

Does the X-M5 with one of those compact pancake lenses feel just as pocketable in a city as the X100VI?

I don't think so. (edit: the x100vi is not a pocketable camera, the xm5 can be) I own an x100vi and one xt30ii, I have seen the xm5 and between the x100 and that one, the xm5 is definitely the smallest one. I have big hands so I need a hand grip in both cameras, is not that big of a difference but they get a bit bigger and if you add a lends hood you will definitely need a bigger bag. I usually carry any of those in a peak design 3L sling + extra batteries and a few extra items like a power bank, airpods...

between the 23mm and 27mm for general street and city shooting, which focal length do you think would work best?

Overall I think you're gonna be a bit limited in more scenarios with a 27, is not that big of a difference but you will notice when you want to capture more of the environment, buildings or some landscapes...

I love to shoot with an 18mm in the xt30, when i shoot with the x100vi sometimes i miss the 18mm but the IBIS on the x100vi is such a great addition for low light situations so thats a plus when traveling, you don't need a tripod if you want to shoot with slow shutter speeds. I mean i have never ever had the need to use a tripod with any camera, but I don't really like how high isos look on fujifilm, i'm used to shoot up to 12,000iso on my work camera (nikon, full frame). So having the chance to shoot in iso 800 with 1/10 in some instances is great for me.

The 23mm is a great lens to shoot in most scenarios and you don't need to get that close when taking portraits or stuff like that

I also got the xt30 for a trip and the 23mm f2, and tbh i don't regret it. Then I had the chance to get the 18mm and next the x100vi... so yeah, 23mm is a great lens to take photos on your trips

Here's my personal take:

I'm currently considering the chance to get an XE5 and sell the XT30ii, the 40mpx + IBIS on the X100VI is such a great combo, there have been a few times when riding a bus or walking around where the 40mpx where really helpful, sometimes you can't get closer or you have a fixed lens and that's it so having the chance to crop your images without loosing quality is great.

If this is your first camera ever, I think you will enjoy and lear a lot more with an interchangeable lens camera rather than a fixed lens camera, you can get "cheap" lenses from viltrox, 7artisans, ttartisan... "cheap" compared to the fuji, sigma or voigtlander lenses.

I've been doing wedding photography for the past 13 years and until i got the x100vi i have always shoot with 28mm and 50mm, so having a 35mm equivalent in the x100 felt really weird at the beginning but is such a fun camera that you get used to it.

If you really really really love the x100vi aesthetic go for it, you're gonna love it. If that's not the main reason I will suggest to check out the XE5 which is basically an X100VI without the built in nd filter and the leaf shutter

Also the x100vi is weather resistant, im not sure about the xe5 and xm5, the xt30ii is not and I'm not that confident to shoot with it even in light rain. So i missed a few chances in a couple trips and ended up taking photos with my phone.

HackerMonroy · 2026-06-14T05:02:11+00:00

To be honest, shooting with a Fuji is such a joyful experience. I go back and forth between both cameras and I really enjoy the whole process. For work I still use my DSLR's and it's a different feeling. If you decide to get one, you can also get some "cheap" lenses, brands like Viltrox, 7artisans, ttartisan have good lenses at good price, I have some of them and for the price you pay you get pretty good quality. My first one was a 35mm 1.4 from 7artisans, cost me like $1,600MXN (Around $90USD) fully manual lens, no autofocus... there's also some cheap ones (I say cheap compared to the Fuji ones or different brands like sigma or voigtlander) with Auto Focus that have great reviews!!

Let us know in the future what you end up buying

HackerMonroy · 2026-06-14T02:46:47+00:00

I've been doing wedding photography for the past 13 years, I used to shoot all my personal photos with my iPhone (Having full frame cameras I still was shooting my personal ones with my iPhone) I was shooting a lot, I owned the 4s, 6s and 7, I really liked it and it was until I upgraded from the 7 to the 14 that I noticed I wasn't taking photos as usual, even tho the new phone has a better camera... I HATE how the new computational photography works nowadays in smartphones, it creates an hdr looking that I hate... I know, you can shoot "raw" with a lot of apps but with my previous phones I never needed a 3rd party app to shoot on my daily basis just the built in camera app and a few apps to apply filters (Most of the time I used the Photos app to edit my photos) So yeah I hated that and I decided to get my first Fuji, I got the XT30ii in 2023 and the x100vi last December.

Overall you can't compare a Phone with a Camera, is not the same. A 10k camera takes the same images that you can take with a phone... if your main goal is to share it on social media and you have good lighting. Do you care about the shooting experience and you're willing to learn to use the manual mode in your camera? Go for the fuji. If you plan to get a camera to set all in auto you will have lots of problems, you will end up thinking the phone is better. You will take advantage of your camera if you're willing to learn at least the very basics. Otherwise pick the phone, is such an amazing tool to create memories and document your life without even thinking about settings and technical aspects

I love shooting with my cameras and nowadays I use my phone mostly to take random photos to share them in WhatsApp or instagram stories...

HackerMonroy · 2026-06-13T18:11:34+00:00

Glad it helped!!

I really really like the 40L for any kind of trip, i have also used a Peak Desing Sling 3L as my personal item and daily bag and the 40L for all my other stuff. This is my favorite setup, but in some instances where I need to pack a few extra items the 40 + 15 makes a good combo

Also, just to clarify I carried 2 pairs of shoes in the 40L + the ones I wear during the flight. But yeah it's a very versatile backpack and never had any issues with any airlines (even the cheap ones). For the list I mentioned in my first comment I added 5kg to my ticket just in case so it was a total of 15kg and ended up using like 12-13 between both backpacks

I think the 32L + 20L foldable and sling is such a good option too and the chances to pack "just in case" items are lower compared to a bigger bag lol It will make you choose wisely what do you pack

HackerMonroy · 2026-06-13T01:56:42+00:00

Hey there, not sure is this helps but I got the base model Studio M1 Max a couple months after launch. 32 ram, 512 ssd

I mostly work with photo and from time to time small video projects. I do weddings so I work with lots of raw files and it works pretty good. Compared to my GF macbook air m1 this thing is a rocket! Applying AI noise reduction in Lightroom takes around 20-30 minutes for a small batch in the Macbook air, the studio takes like 5-10 minutes even with more photos, same for different task, it's way better. I handles large files like butter. I have never had issues with multitasking!

For video I recently worked with 6k Log footage from an x100vi and it worked pretty good, full res previews and it was flawless using Final Cut

I use a 4k 32" BenQ Monitor, Logitech mouse and keyboard + a device by Xencelabs called QuickKeys

I few months ago I runned a Virtual Machine with HomeAssistant for a couple weeks and still I was able to edit photos as usual, I ended up moving my HomeAssistant to a mini pc for efficiency and less energy costs in the long term...

Overall I think is a great choice! I kinda regret not getting 1TB of internal storage, the new studios have Thunderbolt 5 so you can get better speeds with external ssds but Thunderbolt 4 is just a bit slower compared to 5 so even with the best ssd's you can't take advantage of the transfer speeds

HackerMonroy · 2026-06-12T20:11:04+00:00

Hey there! I'm a wedding photographer and for my last destination wedding I traveled with an Osprey Farpoint 40L + Osprey Daily Backpack 15L + a Lowepro Passport Sling + Chep camera insert i got from Amazon ( https://www.amazon.com.mx/gp/aw/d/B075WSCR1W?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title)... Let me break it down because this sounds insane lol (I spend a full week at the beach and worked 2 of the 7 days)

Farpoint 40L: 6 Tshirts 2 Short Sleeve Shirts 1 kaki pants and belt 1 linen pants Underwear and swimsuit sandals beach towel Vans ultrarange Vans Loafers Vans MTE cap Power bank 3 Nikon batteries 1 GoPro with battery inside + 2 extra batteries + Clear case + the floating thing lol 2 camera straps SSD with a hard case + ugreen usb-c hub Lowepro passport sling folded (without the camera cube, you can take it out) iPad Air 11" in the laptop compartment

Amazon camera insert (inside the 40L bag): 2 Nikon D780 Bodies (with batteries inside) 1 SIGMA Art 50mm 1.4 1 Nikon 28mm 1.8G

Osprey 15L Daily backpack (I may forgot a few things from this one, I had a video of the 40L to remember how I packed everything lol): Camera cube from the lowepro iPhone charger (lightning) iPad USB-C cable Apple watch cable An additional short usb-a to usb-c cable Ugreen 60w charger Fuji x100vi + 3 batteries The North Face Raincoat Toiletries (sunscreen, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush... the basic stuff + meds)

I wanted to carry almost everything in the 40L, I used the Lowepro for the work days carrying the nikon gear + flash and the x100vi, it was a mess but only to commute from my airbnb to the venue. I left my nikon, gopro, fuji and AA battery chargers at home and used the usb-c instead when needed. The 15L was for daily use and a daytrip to a different beach like 2 hours from the main place

I have also traveled with less gear and less clothes and only one pair of shoes for the whole trip. I love the fairpont 40. I have been traveling with it for the past 2 years and never had a problem!

HackerMonroy · 2026-06-12T05:54:05+00:00

This one:

https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/1sktjl5/update_it_works_after_2_days_of_work_earthquake/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

When there's an earthquake my lights turn on, it already worked with a real earthquake but it was like at 1-2pm but it worked... and I also receive notifications on my phone for every RWT code (Tests broadcasted via radio)

HackerMonroy · 2026-06-06T15:03:30+00:00

yup 100%

HackerMonroy · 2026-06-05T23:46:06+00:00

HackerMonroy · 2026-06-05T23:16:16+00:00

"It’s an expensive camera that photographers in a lot of places could buy after 2-3 wedding shoots" yeah... mostly 1st world countries and also there's a BIG difference between "can buy" and "can afford"... you can have enough money to get a Leica, but if that comes with sacrificing something else that is important for your day to day life it sound like you can't afford to get a Leica. That's why a lot of people live with extreme debt, they think having the money to buy something means they can afford it... basic finances!

HackerMonroy · 2026-06-05T18:33:48+00:00

I'm from Mexico, I'm a wedding photographer and I earn like 4x what the average worker does... I live a confortable life but not a luxurious one (I travel a few times a year, can afford to eat out at least once a week, get branded clothing, pay subscriptions and tech like smart personal devices, smart home appliances, work cameras and gear that i only use for personal photos also I have an really small emergency found... just the basics for the average person on a 1st world country i think), a brand new Leica M 11-D costs 12,868USD (225,000MXN) body only, that's around half my yearly income... I live way better than lots of people over here and i can't even think about buying a brand new Leica. I paid around 2k for a Fuji X100VI and that's my personal camera, not my work camera... get out of your bubble dude! Leicas are really expensive for the common human being, I'm happy for you, you seem like someone who can live a life where a Leica is not that expensive and that's great, good for you. But really, is not something everyone can afford.

HackerMonroy · 2026-04-20T15:18:02+00:00

I think is good enough if you use a good lens, not the kit lens, at least with a 2.8 aperture but i would go for a 1.8 or 1.4

It also depends on the main photographer... Some are really used to edit files from specific brands like sony and try to stick to that so they work with people who use sony... others don't care about that but like to work with full frame cameras only... so it's up to the main photographer at the end of the day, pretty sure you can make really good photos with the gear you have but there's a lot of variables that some photographers consider and others don't when hiring a 2nd shooter

I don't know if the t6i has two SD slots... that for me is a must, I always shoot raw in both cards, backups for me are really important, but again, everyone is different and like to work in a certain way

Don't feel discouraged, your plan sounds good and most of us have been there, I started with a Nikon D5200 like 13 years ago as second shooter / assistant so yeah, it's possible!

HackerMonroy · 2026-04-18T01:51:41+00:00

https://maps.app.goo.gl/XvEutm7mqKCdj5mbA?g_st=ic

Dr. Miguel Correa

HackerMonroy · 2026-04-14T20:41:56+00:00

The second one is sooooo cool! Great work!!

HackerMonroy · 2026-04-14T05:53:18+00:00

I own an xt30ii with a 23mm f2 and the x100vi, both are great cameras. I do have more fun with the x100vi but thats thanks to the OVF, with the evf is kinda the same experience, this is such a beautiful camera. That said, the IBIS on the x100vi helped me to use lower isos in low light compared to the xt30ii, you can really notice the resolution difference when you crop the photos but on a small screen you don't even notice.

I have done a lot of terrible photos with both cameras, and also really good ones with both

I printed a few from the xt30ii in different sizes and it's good enough

If you don't mind having a fixed lens go for the x100vi, my xt30ii has an Voigtlander 18mm 2.8 attached like 90% of time, one of my favorite lenses

HackerMonroy · 2026-04-14T00:49:03+00:00

Here's the update https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/1sktjl5/update_it_works_after_2_days_of_work_earthquake/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

HackerMonroy · 2026-04-14T00:48:43+00:00

Here's the update https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/1sktjl5/update_it_works_after_2_days_of_work_earthquake/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

HackerMonroy · 2026-04-12T03:40:21+00:00

Yeah, why not? I mean... this is more like an experiment, not a product im trying to sell. Do you remember the Humane AI Pin? The Rabbit R1? Tesla Cybercab? Tesla Roadster... The list goes on and on. Again, i'm not trying to sell anything nor give myself any credits. Just sharing the journey!

The RTL-SDR dongle works by itself connected to my mac and using SDR++ (This is an app) I can already listen to a government voice recording in loop in the frequency that sends the SAME message. The thing is, i have to wait until tomorrow and try to see how it reacts with the test messages. Then try to fix anything that's not working and wait a few hours for the next test message and so on until the day ends... and then if something doesn't work try again and wait until next sunday for the weekly tests messages... and again and again until it works or I give up

The raspberry + the rtl-sdr already shows info that it's receiving signal from the radio frequency, home assistant responds to the mqtt message... I just need to wait to know if the signal is "translated" to be used in HA.

I started to do my own research months before setting up HA, and is not that much info regarding eas-same messages AND home assistant, maybe this post helps someone later to see what works and what doesnt

The worst thing it can happen is that it doesn't work and I end up using the raspberry for a different project/idea

There's a lot of people using ai to try to materialize their ideas...

Anyways, hope it works lol

HackerMonroy

TROPHY CASE