timwitt Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 <p>At a pawn shop yesterday, I asked the man if he had any other cameras, he brought a box from the back room. It was full of box cameras, 2, 2A etc, some Kodak folders, 616 mostly, a clean and functional Agfa Speedex B2 and I assumed, a Kodak 110 in the black zip up case. I looked at all the box type and folders, looked at the Speedex a lot and decided it's just not a Super Ikonta.</p> <p>Last, I looked in the Kodak 110 case expecting to see yet another unwanted 110 and was quite surprised (but I didn't show it) to find an XA, A11 flash and the manuals. Looks like it had never been used and no battery corrosion. I asked if the price sticker was accurate at $4.99 and he said yes. I paid and left quickly, feeling like like a child stealing watermelons. I got home, put batteries in and everything worked.</p> <p>The XA seems to be considered a cult classic and has been featured many times on the Classic forum. It's mostly manual but plastic and requires batteries. Maybe it's a classic modern camera so I'm going to put it here.</p> <p>I had just sorted my cameras for keepers and those to sell, my previous XA was in the sell category. I had decided to keep only the Olympus 35RD, Auto S2 and Konica C35 rangefinders.</p> <p>I think it would be proper to re-seal this one and run a roll through it, then consider keeping one XA.........Don't you think??</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starvy Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 <p>Why does this kind of find never happen to me! I have been looking to pick up a cheap working XA (original version with rangefinder) for a couple of years but they are always just a bit out of my budget!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDMvW Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 <p>Wish it were me. Congrats, but you have to show pictures now. ;)</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Currie Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 <p>I've actually scored very well with XA's and XA2's, and I have a couple of five-buck XA's in my reserve collection. I would keep them all. They are robust and dependable, but when they do, occasionally, go wrong, the electronics aren't worth rebuilding. Put film in all of them, and keep them as pocket backup/glove compartment spares. I rarely go anywhere without an XA2 somewhere close at hand.</p> <p>XA's certainly would seem to belong in this category. We've discussed them a good deal in the classic forum, but that was probably a stretch.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_drawbridge Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 <p>Oooh! Never happens to me! One's probably enough, and they sell for considerably more than $4.99 at Auction, down my way. Keep the best, sell the other and re-invest...</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCap Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 <p>Nice find. Makes one wonder what they paid for it if they sold it for $4.99.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markus maurer Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 <p>Congratulations, I got a XA4 macro 28mm F3.5 + A11 flash 2 weeks ago for $10 in fully working condition in a second hand photo store :-)</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigd Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 <p>Nice find! I just bought an XA myself for rather more than you paid for yours. I'll probably be posting about it next weekend.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hugh_davis Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 <p>KEH has an EX one with the A16 flash for USD 159. You did great!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridinhome Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 <p>Now this just p***** me off. Why can't awesome things like this ever happen to me? Grumble grumble...</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfophotos Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 <p>Nice find. I love my XA2. My XA that I bought years ago for $40 is having problems. But, I just got a beautiful Chinon Bellami in the mail that I will soon post about.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsigua Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 <p>Great find! I found a XA2 with A11 flash just a little over a month ago at a thrift store and paid $4 for it. It was dusty, needed new light seals and looked like it's been through a lot. Well I just finished getting it resealed today and it seems like it's functioning correctly. So now I'm running a test roll through it and hopefully the pictures will come out.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug grosjean Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 <p>An XA, the model with the most manual controls, was my first 35mm camera, bought new back in 1982 in Arizona, after a long-time girlfriend dumped me. Throwing myself into photography helped get her off my mind, and Arizona is a GREAT place to learn photography. And the XA was the perfect camera to start learning with. I still run a roll through it, now and then.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_beisigl Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 <p>Kayam,<br> The camera god (Ralf) just smiled on you, and gave you a beautiful camera.<br> Tim, on the other hand, had to pay almost $5.00 for his "gift."<br> Now if only someone would give me a complete Hasselblad system, I would be in "camera heaven."</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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