Tiny & PERFECT 35mm Full-Frame Film Camera? The Olympus XA Review
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- Опубліковано 29 чер 2024
- The Olympus XA released in 1979 is a super-compact and yet fabulous full-frame 35mm film camera. Join me while I explore the features of this little gem.
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Found one sitting on a shelf at a thrift store: $6.99. Spent a few bucks for CLA. Works like a charm. Love it.
Nice find! Congrats!
I was managing a camera store when Olympus introduced the XA and was able to purchase one with the A16 flash at a discount. I have had several since then (because the are so small, they are easy to drop or lose) and still have one. They were a favorite camera of famed nature photographer Galen Rowell and he would carry one on his mountain expeditions. Very nice video!
wow as soon as i saw that first photo of the man on the dock i thought to myself, hmm.. that place looks oddly familiar. but then when i saw your photo of il porto ristorante in old town i was surprised you’re a local! I actually picked one of these cameras up with the flash last week at the georgetown flea market for only $10
Yep I’m a local to the DC metro area. It sounds like you made a nice deal on on a great little camera. Enjoy!
I’ve had an XA2 since 1990 and it still works! I traveled on several Europe vacations in the 1990s with this camera. Great choice!
Effect travel camera for sure.
Great review and details! Thank you!
wow that self timer stand is genius
great video as always, thanks so much for your effort. I love your channel.
Thanks!
Great video! Love how comprehensive and practical your review style is. Thanks for the info
Thanks so much for watching. I really hope you subbed.
Great video. Thanks for taking the time to put this together. I'd been curious about these, being a PEN F fan, and just purchased one. Looking forward to using it. This was a very helpful video!!
Glad I could help!
Hi Eric thanks for helping to fuel my interest back in film photography. Hoping to add one of these to my collection soon! Would love to see more videos of you out and about shooting these wonderful pieces of history.
Thanks so much. I plan to make more this year.
Hey man, thanks for giving us all those little extra pieces of trivia, about which people don't seem to take notice. Also, you have a great voice. Keep it up!
Thanks so much
Love the XA series! (I’m missing the XA 4). Thanks for sharing this.
What are your thoughts on the xa3??
I must agree with you about the XA series. They are really great point-and-shoots. I have the XA4 which I got specifically for the close-up capability. I like taking it with me just to have a camera as it is very discreet. I continue to enjoy your reviews of cameras that I own as I always learn something or remember something I'd forgotten. Nice job.
Thanks so much.
cool video! I originally got an XA2 as a "beginner" way to learn to use a rangefinder, but still use it regularly due to its quality
I almost never leave the house without my XA3. Ingenious design and just really fun to shoot with :) Will buy a XA too because of the rangefinder. Good review!
Thanks so much.
hey u have an instagram for you xa3?
I have had multiple opportunities to purchase this camera but failed to follow through with it every time I see one available. Hahahaha! I have way too many 35mm bodies that I need to sell as cool as they are. I find myself shooting more medium format just for the image quality and less frames to worry about. Great review!
Nice video!!! clear and perfect! ;-) many thanks!
Thanks so much!
Very much the best small rangefinder of that period - the XA that is. Nice video - like the wristrap tip :-)
Indeed it is!
Another great review. Super thorough. I’m waiting for my first XA. Thank you
Thanks for stopping by!
I found a like new Olympus Accura 105 in my moms storage. Put a lithium battery in and a new roll of Tmax 400 and shot the camera in varying light for test. Wow super surprised with the meters accuracy and the sharpness of the lens. The lens is a AF 38mm to 105mm zoom but I only shot it at 38mm. Fully auto point and shoot but i can turn the flash off. Makes me rethink shooting my big 35mm SLR cameras.
Some of those point and shoot film cameras were incredibly good. Enjoy!
You deserve more subscribers!
Thanks so much. Please share my vids.
The soft shutter was designed that way to reduce camera shake, but you prolly know that. I own all XA’s (exept the XA-1). They all are 35mm f2.8, exept the XA-4 which had a 28mm f2.8 focal lenght macro lens. Love your video’s!
Thanks so much. Yep, the soft shutter release is great for reducing camera shake.
actually xa is the only camera that has 2.8. xa1 starts with f4 and xa 2 3 4 all start with 3.5
Yep. I think I covered that in the video
Maitani looks like Japanese John Leguizamo
Great review once again, I've been using the XA for years and I didn't even know so much about it. Quick question; is there a reason why one shouldn't use cheap LR44/SR44 batteries? Has it got to do with the accuracy of the meter?
I’ve read that shutter accuracy can be compromised with cheap batteries. It’s recommended to use name brands and they last well over a year so it’s worth spending the extra $1-$2.
@@FilmPhotographyChannel noted with thanks!
If you would only have a choice of getting the Olympus XA or the Canon canonet 17, which one would you choose? Image quality, portability, and quiet shooter being the most important factors.
Hi Carlos, the Canonet beats the XA in all of those categories except portability. The XA makes a gear noise when advancing the film whi isn’t really loud but is definitely louder than the Canonet. Image quality is way better from the Canonet because of the fast Bokehlicious f1.7 40mm lens. It’s very sharp with great contrast and overall rendering. I would choose the Canonet overall since it’s my favorite fixed lens rangefinder, but the XA is extremely portable with a great lens which doesn’t offer the bokeh of the canon but is a very good lens in its own right.
I have a question. My olympus xa won't open. I did not use it for like a year. what is the possible problem? I also tried new batteries but it wont also work
Hmm, I can only think that there may be physical damage. Was it dropped recently? Mine would be a little finicky when I try to open it so I would grip it differently and try wiggling it open. Hope this helps!
@@FilmPhotographyChannel thank you! Will update you if this works 😊 anyways great video. Thumbs up! 👍
The XA is a brilliant design creation, for its intended use. That use is snapshots, a travel camera to make 3x5" prints of the vacation. the lens is a unique design, meaning that its design was never used again, either by Olympus or anyone else. The reason for that is that, contra the video, it is not sharp at all - it is barely sufficient to mount on the body for snapshot purposes. It's design intent was a lens which would squash back into the body and not have to pop out to use, like most modern point-n-shoot models. The truth is that compared to any other small, pocketable full frame 35mm camera of its era, the lens is crap. Apart from not sharp, the lens also vignettes (gets dark in the picture corners) more than nay other modern camera. That's okay if you use the camera for what it is intended. By comparison, the Minox 35 shown here (made by Balda for Minox) is a piece of crap in almost every way, but its lens is head and shoulders better than the XA.
I agree the Minox lens is better than the XA lens and that the Minox is crap. I say that only for one reason and that is because the shutter breaks down constantly. If there was a Minox 35 series with a reliable shutter, I would take it everywhere I go. I think the XA lens is pretty good at 5.6 or smaller (vignetting issue goes away) but I guess most lenses are.
No such of thing as full frame in 1979.
Hah, not true at all. If there were half frame cameras like the Olympus Pen-F series and APS (advanced photo system) film we’re both smaller than the 35mm negative. That’s where we get the APS-C name for today’s crop sensor cameras. If A half frame exists, then a full frame must also exist. :-)