Olympus XA

Lens: 35mm f/2.8 6 elements 5 groups F.Zuiko
Shutter: 10 seconds to 1/500 leaf shutter
Focusing: 0.9m to infinity rangefinder
Exposure: aperture-priority
Battery: 2 LR/SR44
Produced: 1979–1985





I put the film canister in the picture so you can get some idea of how small the XA is. When it was released in 1979 the XA was somewhat of a sensation. It may be the smallest 35mm rangefinder ever made.  Unlike other small cameras of the time the lens on the XA did not need to be extended for picture taking.  I am not going to pretend that I understand the design that made this possible, however it seems that people who know about such things were very impressed. Besides being small the XA takes excellent pictures. It was said to be the camera that professional photographers took on vacation.

When I got my Olympus XA it looked great on the outside, however I found that it had a badly corroded battery.  After a lot of cleaning I put some new batteries in and it appeared to be dead.  So I sat the camera aside and didn't look at it for a couple of days. When I did look I found that the Olympus XA was fully functional. And the XA has worked fine since then.  Why it didn't work at first may have been due to something I have read about called "dry capacitor syndrome".  Looks like somethings just needed to be charged up after being so long without power.  Since then I have found it is a good idea not to give up on a camera if it doesn't power up right away.

The XA is definitely a pocket camera.  I can walk around with it in my shirt pocket all day and barely notice that it is there.  The clam-shell covers the lens so I never have to keep track of a lens cover.  The rangefinder spot is fairly bright and easy to get good focus with.  After having used the XA for nearly a year I can say that it does live up to the hype.  One thing to watch for when using the XA is that the shutter button is very sensitive.  It doesn't take much of a touch to set it off.  This is good for reducing camera shake, however it makes it easy to waste a shot too.  Another thing with this camera that I wonder about is the seemingly flimsy film rewind.  The lever on the XA seems like one from a cheap plastic point and shot.  Although I haven't heard of people having any problem with it breaking.

Once again I don't see any point in repeating more detail for this camera when others have already covered the topic well.  So here are some links.

Almost forgot the link to the Olympus XA Gallery

This site has a review for the XA from when it first came out.
XA - The Original

XA entry from Matt's Classic Cameras

Info about the XA and a little about the other cameras in the XA series.
Olympus XA and XA4 Macro

Film Results and which Cameras to keep

I wrote about the Argus HFM II earlier, and it was one of the cameras that I got film back for.  The manual for the camera recommends using 200 ISO film so I used Fuji 200.  I like the results well enough that I will probably use the camera again.  I added the color pictures to the existing gallery. If this camera looks interesting to you, one can usually be found on Ebay for between $10 and $20. 
Argus HFM II Gallery

Since I started using film again about a year ago I have bought a lot of cameras.  When I get the camera I take some pictures using bulk b&w.  If the results from the test roll show that the camera worked okay and had potential I take photos with color film. Since I don't think that I am a collector my plan is to find out which cameras are ones that I will use.  And while I have been in the acquiring and testing phase for a while I think it has come time to go to the sorting phase. 

Some of the cameras are an easy choice.  I have my Canon F1 that I bought in 1974.  It still works well and just from a point of sentiment it would be the last camera that I would sell.  A recent purchase, the Olympus XA, also falls in the keeper category.  Because it fits easily in my pocket and takes excellent pictures I find myself using it a lot. 

A trickier one is the Yashica 124G.  The camera is in very good shape and the results I get from it seem excellent to me.

Still I don't care much for carrying a big camera around or for looking down to frame an image.  One thing I have found out about myself in the last year is that I do like a camera that I can put in my pocket and not notice unless I want to take a picture.  The Yashica 124G sure does not fall into that category, however it may be one that is worth the trouble. 

So that is all for today.  Not sure what I will post next, however it will likely be more about the results from the pictures I just got back.