love how you included the winding wheel in the audio during the test photograph segment! i love how well this little camera performs, even on an inexpensive film stock like kodak gold. great video as always, ross!
I just yesterday went to a resale shop, and picked up an old Polaroid 100 pack film camera case with a polaroid 100 with still film in it, a Kodak Instamatic 126 film camera, and an Olympus XA with flash…. All for $29.90 US. Had never heard of the XA… but boy do I love it! Thanks
I have been shooting film since around 10 years and have used quite a few cameras, but the XA is the one I always come back to. It's definetely my favorite camera, you can bring it on a hike, a hitchhiking adventure, do street photo with it... it's just so practical and my god at 5.6 the lens is just amazing.
Just recently picked one of these up as I unfortunately had an accident with my Contax T2 therefore making it currently unusable. Found the XA for a decent price while here in Japan so I can continue to shoot more film in the meantime. For a small camera it sure does pack a punch. Also love the size of it when the flash module is disconnected. A true pocket camera
Nice video, Ross. I've had an XA for many years - used to use it a lot before digital, still gets used now. Mine now has a fairly common fault - there are actually two meters in the camera, one that controls actual exposure, the other the viewfinder shutter speed indication - and that has a tendency to fail, as mine has. Camera still works fine, but you don't know what shutter speed it's selecting, which is a bit limiting. Oh, and good luck getting an XA4 for £60-70 - that's actually the expensive one, partly because it's relatively rare, but mostly because it has a wider 28mm lens with macro capability. It's normally about £200 or even more. I've also got an XA1, which doesn't need batteries. A very different camera to the XA, much more basic - it's basically an XA version of the famous Olympus Trip, fun in its own way. Finally, flash. As well as the A11, there's also the A9M which was designed for the XA1, a simpler and less powerful model, and the A16, a more powerful model. Other very small cameras that are worth a look and aren't always too dear are the Olympus Mju II - an AF point and shoot, but with a really nice lens, various versions of the Rollei 35 (mostly the B or LED version) and various versions of the Minox 35. These 2 don't have a rangefinder, but do have better build quality than the XA.
Man I'm so tempted to buy one of these. Everything about is "perfect" imo. It's a pocket clamshell rangefinder that can have a flash attachment if needed, and i love rangefinder sm. But the only thing that's holding me back is the advance wheel. I hated how cheap it sounds and feels on my kodak ektar H35 😭 and using and actual advance lever feels so satisfying
I do shoot 35mm SLR's, but I've always wanted a rangefinder camera, and honestly always an XA! But I think I'll need to practice my rangefinding skills on my Fuji first haha. This was an awesome video tho, and your shots were fantastic!
love your photos 😍 but may I know when you were shooting with Kodak Gold (I believe it’s Kodak Gold 200), do you set the ISO to box-speed (i.e. 200) or did you overexpose by +1/+2? I bought an XA2 recently and I finished 2 rolls of film with underexposed photos 😢
Hey! Thanks for the question, yeah I definitely overexpose by a stop or two depending on the shot. I’ve found you really have to work with the light meter on this little camera and expose mainly for the shadows, changing the iso accordingly.
I've just bought a olympus ax it hasn't arrived yet, but I'm truly excited I've owned the xa3 regret selling it. But I've also just bought an xa2, I've got black and white in, and black and white is going in the xa when it arrives
The XA has to be one of the most verbally tossed around cameras in history. It was made for snapshots, which may or may not be a pejorative, depending on point of view. What is it: A very small, plastic 35mm camera designed for convenience in the moment, trips to the beach, the family Xmas card, the birthday party. Simple to use, so mom can use it with reason for success. No fuss. Just slide open the front panel, and electrics are on. The exposure is only automatic, so the user was not intended to be an experienced camera user. The highest design priority: Compact. The lens does not extend and retract (but there's a price). Cons: The lens. A unique design to allow the lens to fit in the thin body without extending for use. It's so expensive and optically bad, that neither Oly or anyone else every used its design again. This "pancake spec" on the lens means that the rear element almost touches the film. That means it can be sharp in the image center 50% or so, but it's visually blurry, low contrast, near edges and into corners of the image. There is huge vignetting, meaning darkening of image edges and corners. There is, compared to other cameras, great linear distortion, meaning that straight lines curve in the image. So, contrary to some claims, it's no Leica. Actually, as a picture maker, it's not even an Argus C-3 from the 1940s. It's viewfinder is almost useless. It's rangefinder is so poorly designed that it was useless when new. The aperture is two sliding plates, just like a Kodak $12 box camera from 1955. Nevertheless, its success if based on the fact that you can take it without thinking. There is no point in worrying about the beautiful photo opportunity, if you didn't bring a camera long. As for its considerable imaging defects, after Walmart steps on your film processing, has the high school kid run your scans, and emails you low res images of the beach party, no one cares about optical image defects in the pics on your phone. The biggest argument for avoiding the XA as a purchase today is price. KEH (big used dealer) currently (8/24) is offering the XA between $250 and $385. That's nuts. The XA isn't durable - period. Buy one now for regular use-expect a useful life of two years at most. Practically unrepairable, both in fact, and in terms of repair cost exceeding value. So, buy at $50 - $100 today, use it till it breaks, and bin it.
love how you included the winding wheel in the audio during the test photograph segment! i love how well this little camera performs, even on an inexpensive film stock like kodak gold. great video as always, ross!
Haha thanks for watching as always!! 👊
I just yesterday went to a resale shop, and picked up an old Polaroid 100 pack film camera case with a polaroid 100 with still film in it, a Kodak Instamatic 126 film camera, and an Olympus XA with flash…. All for $29.90 US.
Had never heard of the XA… but boy do I love it!
Thanks
Wow what a bargain!!
I have been shooting film since around 10 years and have used quite a few cameras, but the XA is the one I always come back to. It's definetely my favorite camera, you can bring it on a hike, a hitchhiking adventure, do street photo with it... it's just so practical and my god at 5.6 the lens is just amazing.
Glad you like it!!
Awesome video Ross. The photos you took on the XA are so nice 👌
❤❤❤
Just recently picked one of these up as I unfortunately had an accident with my Contax T2 therefore making it currently unusable. Found the XA for a decent price while here in Japan so I can continue to shoot more film in the meantime. For a small camera it sure does pack a punch. Also love the size of it when the flash module is disconnected. A true pocket camera
Nice video, Ross. I've had an XA for many years - used to use it a lot before digital, still gets used now. Mine now has a fairly common fault - there are actually two meters in the camera, one that controls actual exposure, the other the viewfinder shutter speed indication - and that has a tendency to fail, as mine has. Camera still works fine, but you don't know what shutter speed it's selecting, which is a bit limiting.
Oh, and good luck getting an XA4 for £60-70 - that's actually the expensive one, partly because it's relatively rare, but mostly because it has a wider 28mm lens with macro capability. It's normally about £200 or even more.
I've also got an XA1, which doesn't need batteries. A very different camera to the XA, much more basic - it's basically an XA version of the famous Olympus Trip, fun in its own way.
Finally, flash. As well as the A11, there's also the A9M which was designed for the XA1, a simpler and less powerful model, and the A16, a more powerful model.
Other very small cameras that are worth a look and aren't always too dear are the Olympus Mju II - an AF point and shoot, but with a really nice lens, various versions of the Rollei 35 (mostly the B or LED version) and various versions of the Minox 35. These 2 don't have a rangefinder, but do have better build quality than the XA.
Good info
Man I'm so tempted to buy one of these. Everything about is "perfect" imo. It's a pocket clamshell rangefinder that can have a flash attachment if needed, and i love rangefinder sm. But the only thing that's holding me back is the advance wheel. I hated how cheap it sounds and feels on my kodak ektar H35 😭 and using and actual advance lever feels so satisfying
Did you get one in the end??
I do shoot 35mm SLR's, but I've always wanted a rangefinder camera, and honestly always an XA! But I think I'll need to practice my rangefinding skills on my Fuji first haha. This was an awesome video tho, and your shots were fantastic!
Aww thanks. Yeah rangefinders are super fun, maybe more so than SLRs. 🎉
love your photos 😍 but may I know when you were shooting with Kodak Gold (I believe it’s Kodak Gold 200), do you set the ISO to box-speed (i.e. 200) or did you overexpose by +1/+2?
I bought an XA2 recently and I finished 2 rolls of film with underexposed photos 😢
Hey! Thanks for the question, yeah I definitely overexpose by a stop or two depending on the shot. I’ve found you really have to work with the light meter on this little camera and expose mainly for the shadows, changing the iso accordingly.
I've just bought a olympus ax it hasn't arrived yet, but I'm truly excited I've owned the xa3 regret selling it.
But I've also just bought an xa2, I've got black and white in, and black and white is going in the xa when it arrives
How did it go??
The XA has to be one of the most verbally tossed around cameras in history. It was made for snapshots, which may or may not be a pejorative, depending on point of view. What is it: A very small, plastic 35mm camera designed for convenience in the moment, trips to the beach, the family Xmas card, the birthday party. Simple to use, so mom can use it with reason for success. No fuss. Just slide open the front panel, and electrics are on. The exposure is only automatic, so the user was not intended to be an experienced camera user. The highest design priority: Compact. The lens does not extend and retract (but there's a price). Cons: The lens. A unique design to allow the lens to fit in the thin body without extending for use. It's so expensive and optically bad, that neither Oly or anyone else every used its design again. This "pancake spec" on the lens means that the rear element almost touches the film. That means it can be sharp in the image center 50% or so, but it's visually blurry, low contrast, near edges and into corners of the image. There is huge vignetting, meaning darkening of image edges and corners. There is, compared to other cameras, great linear distortion, meaning that straight lines curve in the image. So, contrary to some claims, it's no Leica. Actually, as a picture maker, it's not even an Argus C-3 from the 1940s. It's viewfinder is almost useless. It's rangefinder is so poorly designed that it was useless when new. The aperture is two sliding plates, just like a Kodak $12 box camera from 1955. Nevertheless, its success if based on the fact that you can take it without thinking. There is no point in worrying about the beautiful photo opportunity, if you didn't bring a camera long. As for its considerable imaging defects, after Walmart steps on your film processing, has the high school kid run your scans, and emails you low res images of the beach party, no one cares about optical image defects in the pics on your phone. The biggest argument for avoiding the XA as a purchase today is price. KEH (big used dealer) currently (8/24) is offering the XA between $250 and $385. That's nuts. The XA isn't durable - period. Buy one now for regular use-expect a useful life of two years at most. Practically unrepairable, both in fact, and in terms of repair cost exceeding value. So, buy at $50 - $100 today, use it till it breaks, and bin it.
Thanks for this info!
The XA-4 costs more than the XA,XA1 and XA2 combined.
Yikes!
These are pictures of a lot of nothing
Thanks!