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
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!
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'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
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 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!!
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!! 👊
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
Awesome video Ross. The photos you took on the XA are so nice 👌
❤❤❤
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
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
i absolutely adore my xa2, i dont see myself ever getting rid of it
Awesome!
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.
The XA-4 costs more than the XA,XA1 and XA2 combined.
These are pictures of a lot of nothing
Thanks!