Olympus XA review

<p>Hello all</p>

<p>I've got a film photography blog, where I sometimes do reviews of the cameras I use (I've got a pretty good collection - 40-odd cameras and counting)</p>

<p>I've done a recent post on the Olympus XA - a camera that's usually stowed away somewhere in my camera bag.</p>

<p>http://zorkiphoto.co.uk/2013/04/13/olympus-xa-camera-review/</p>

<p>I've been hugely impressed with the camera - amazingly sharp lens, pocketable size, and slight vignetting which is especially nice with slide film and cross-processed shots.</p>

<p>Anyone else a fan? I'd be interested to know others' experiences with the other models aswell, espeically the XA2.</p>

<p>Cheers<br>

<br />S</p>

<p>I purchased an XA as soon as it came out. Great lens on that camera. It was one of the first small pocket size cameras. I always had it with me and soon found I only used my Nikon SLR occasionally. The shutter was electronic and I damaged mine by leaving it on my stereo speaker cabinet. It was fixed under warranty within 2 weeks and returned with a warning not to leave it on appliances or speakers that might have large magnets. I think I paid $109. with the attachable A11 flash and traded it in a few years back for $50. Great camera.</p>

<p>I have had a couple of XA's and several XA2's and an XA3. They all work well, as you'd expect. A couple of these have had IC failures on very cold days, and I wonder if that's a coincidence or a problem. I generally pick up any XA family member I see that's cheap, and they occasionally come up at thrift stores for a buck or two. Here on the forum a few years ago I got an XA2 free because its owner had run over it with a car. It needed a little winder part, which I took from a dead XA., and the back was bent, so since I had one, I just replaced it, though I could have unbent it. It has worked fine ever since.</p>

<p>This is the ultimate shirt pocket camera, simple, well protected and nearly silent. </p>

<p>I actually somewhat prefer the XA2, which has a good sharp lens. The zone focusing works pretty well for a 35 millimeter lens, and the programmed exposure is usually all right too. The instant point and shoot capability of this one makes it ideal as a traveling and backup camera. I rarely go anywhere without one. The XA3 is an XA2 with automatic DX and an improved winding setup. Because you can't now change the ASA code to compensate, it also has backlight compensation built into the battery check lever. </p>

<p>When I go out shooting with something else, I usually throw an XA2 in a pocket and take a few backup shots with that too. Sometimes they turn out to be the best of the bunch. If you find the 35 millimeter perspective appealing, an XA in a pocket is an awfully nice thing to have.</p>

<p>A lovely little camera that I am still hoping to pick up at a bargain price but the original XA does not seem to go cheap sadly.</p>

<p>The XA is a terrific little camera, but, not surprisingly, it does have some limitations and inconveniences. The restriction to aperture-priority mode only, with only a +1.5 stop exposure compensation option, is limiting, though generally the XA does a good enough job of metering that it isn't an issue (though it can be thrown off by backlighting, which is the specific issue that the +1.5 switch is designed to correct). The ISO setting control is awkward to manipulate, and hard to read if you do not have good close-up vision, and the camera can only go to ISO 800. I also find that the shutter release is far too easy to trip accidentally. Optically, it is remarkably good but does tend to suffer from very noticeable vignetting. However, the XA remains an excellent camera and a really amazing achievement considering its small size and light weight.</p>

<p>Stephen</p>

<p>Nice article of the XA on your blog. It is a great little pocket camera that I keep with me most of the time. Although the lens is soft at f2.8, it sharpens right up by stopping down to f4 or f5.6. Mine stays loaded with Kodak 400 CN.</p><div></div>

<p>Stephen,<br>

Thanks to the pointer to your blog. I have several flavors of XA (by which I mean meter or foot scales on the focus), a bunch of thrift-store XA2s and an XA4 Macro. As you know the latter has a 28/3.5 lens and scale focuses down to 12 inches. Cleverly the wrist strap was designed to be used as a measuring device as well. I've shot the XA4 side-by-side with the generally well-regarded Nikon Lite Touch (AF600, in ?non US markets) and gotten similar results, at least for moderate apertures during daylight (where I suppose most lenses would perform at least decently). Both do a good job, but the scale-focus XA4 is nicely quiet compared with the AF Nikon.</p>

<p>Also have an XA1, with the 35/4 lens and limited range of film speeds (100 and 400 IIRC). Have yet to finish the roll of film in it (over a year and counting, I'm afraid) so no real personal experience with the results yet. Don't have any XA3s, and don't have any of the colored variants.</p>

<p>For the XA-3 I cover the DX stripes with tape and set the ISO manually. My XA-3, although it looks mint, works intermittently. My XA quit recently, but I still have a working XA-2 and XA-1. I will eventually replace the XA.</p>