[Film Photography] Olympus XA - WORTH THE CULT STATUS? Compact film camera buying guide
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- Опубликовано: 17 сен 2021
- The @OMSYSTEMCameras Olympus XA, highly popular compact rangefinder film camera reviewed.
Find me on Instagram: / _bjiao__
Specifically, this video covers:
00:54 Compact camera buying consideration I - size
02:44 Compact camera buying consideration II - functionalities
05:34 Compact camera buying consideration III - sharpness
09:11 Compact camera buying consideration IV - lens specifications
10:32 Compact camera buying consideration V - price
Watch also:
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[Film Photography] Shooting in Cambridge on Olympus XA with 2002 Expired Kodak Gold 200 & Portra 160: • [Film Photography] Sho...
[Film Photography] Summer Night in London - Ilford Delta 3200 35mm - street PoV on Minolta 5000: • [Film Photography] Sum...
Read also (from my photography blog):
"[Pho.Talk] Is the Olympus XA a Good Camera?": www.belindajiao.com/blog/olym...
"[Pho.Snap] What Does a Good Film Negative Look Like?": www.belindajiao.com/blog/good-...
"[Pho.Talk] Is Film Photography Worth it (vs Digital)? Costs, Image Quality, Film stocks": www.belindajiao.com/blog/film...
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Phottix Kali150 Studio LED: amzn.to/3eUtYn8
Rode VideoMicro Compact On-Camera Microphone with Rycote Lyre Shock Mount: amzn.to/2QFHv88
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My Heavy-Duty Tripod - Manfrotto Before GT XPRO Carbon Fibre Travel Tripod with Ball Head: amzn.to/2FTDeZS
Adobe Photographer Plan: clk.tradedoubler.com/click?p(...)
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#compactfilmcamera #olympusxa #bestfilmcamera #rangefinderfilmcamera 
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Beauty and Brains.... love the following comment at 6:13 .... "if the photos happen to be blurry, the lens is probably the last reason why they are so" This is so true.... Great video, very great insights.
The XA is an amazing little camera. Fits in a pocket. 6 element lens design. Aperture priority. Silent. For those complaining about the rangefinder patch, it's a rangefinder. Learn how to zone focus. That's how it's intended to be used.
Bert, I tend to agree that there are quite tactful workarounds - not sure how other rangefinders are like, but knowing focus distances does help massively
True enough, but then your far better choice over the XA is the no rangefinder XA2 with a better lens, no hype, and cheaper to buy.
@@randallstewart175 original XA is better lens actually
@@omerb89 It may have six elements, but they were all used to cram the lens into a thin body and almost put the rear element on the film. In objective optical tests, it is nearly unique in that the test images were so bad that you cannot tell that the subject is a test chart, much less read the resolution. It is further distinguished by having some of the worst distortion and corner vignetting of any lens put on a 35mm camera. As I noted, it's one of the best snapshot cameras. Perhaps a saving grace is that digital image processing today can straighten the curved buildings, automatically lighten the edges/corners, remove the massive chromatic aberrations, and apply sharpening which can erase the sins of the negative. Probably the final judgment on the lens came from Olympus. After the XA, they never used the lens or its very unusual design again, nor did anyone else.
@@randallstewart175 nevertheless it produces amazing photos for what it is, I prefer it over the XA2 because of the control and any difference in image quality over the xa2 is unnoticeable imo. It is my favorite camera to use and I own about 7 different cameras.
Cheers Belinda!Thoroughly enjoyed your blog post on this, so I know this is going to be great!!
Barry, amazing! Yea left the more technical bits in the blogpost :)
Outstanding Belinda!! This, combined with your blog post was perfect!!! Love the shirt😀!
hey Barry, amazing! my pleasure to talk about this camera i think anyone would benefit greatly from it (:
Great video Belinda! It's morning here in Atlanta so I had my cup of coffee waiting for this video. I'm so glad I got my little XA 3 weeks ago and can't wait to keep creating with it. Ps. loved how you frame every bullet point through the viewfinder of the XA, that was adorable and genius.
hey Isaias! hope you’ve had a lovely morning. such an impeccable piece of art isnt it!
and yes, I did change the bullet point overlay just for this vid (:
Excellent video Belinda a lovely little camera the Olympus XA I vaguely remember that little pocket rocket 🚀 of a camera 📷 being released in the early to mid 80’s , I hope you have lots of fun taking crisp images with it.
hey Dieter, this thing transcends time :) such a classic, and yes, most importantly it is capable of good work
@@BelindaJiao another fantastic tiny camera you may want to check out is the tiny 35mm Minox EL, GT etc…. Which has a super sharp lens as does your XA which is pretty decent also
I like'd the comparison between the cameras in size. Very revealing what fit's in a small pocket.
yea I found it rather misleading to measure camera size by simple measurements. In practice, it needs to fit into a pocket but not just that, alongside your necessities for it to really by portable
Congrats!
Great video. You know for daytime carry the A11 flash comes off making the camera package even smaller!
Hey Tom exactly! Such a handy pocket camera
Nice shots.
interesting and well done Belinda
hey Armin! Glad you enjoyed, have a great week ahead :)
The Olympus XA is a versatile little Camera.
Well done.
Nice video! :) I too have an XA. I definitely agree with what you're saying. My impressions were (and still are) that it's such an incredibly well designed camera and its a joy to handle and use. However I also had some issues with the sharpness, small and dim viewfinder, small and dim (resulting in more difficult to use) focusing patch. I did open up and clean the inside of the viewfinder to clean it and its now clearer, but the focusing patch is still small and can be hard to see (i ended up doing the little black square of tape on the middle of the viewfinder to make it easier in low light). As you noted the lens is not the sharpest and I do see some softness and artefacts in the corners particularly when wide open. Still, its more than good enough for a snapshot camera and I am unfairly comparing it to results from my previous 35mm SLR (AE-1). In getting it I was trying to better balance out my medium format and 35mm cameras for travel so that my 35mm camera (formerly SLR) was a more of a fit-in-your-pocket easy to carry everywhere camera that still returns great results and has the manual control I desired, while also not forking out excessive amounts of money on a Contax. Quite ironically, I ended up getting a Leica M6 w/ Zeiss lens to try and strike a middle ground in size between the SLR and XA. Obviously the results are top notch but, despite that, I still find myself coming back the XA and using it regularly when I just need to throw something quick in my pocket. It takes great pictures
second that^ No matter what new camera there is out there, the one that has the best user-friendly design/ specs wins. It is not necessarily image quality or sharpness but rather, how realistic it is to bring it out in practice.
HAHA i relate - this search for a 'better balance' is unending. There is always going to be a middle-house solution that you wish you had but never actually made things substantially better like you had hoped.
Tbh, the view finder focus patch is a headache as well. I have read elsewhere that it can get very bad, fortunately it is manageable for my copy. But, over time, I figured out a quasi 'zone focusing' approach that would be helpful - usually, if the counter points to 3m, your people subjects should be reasonably sharp.
@@BelindaJiao Definitely! The leica is also so enjoyable to be used too, but ultimately for me the XA and leica both still have their own place and will get used in different circumstances. What's so hard about finding the perfect balance is that there's always a tradeoff in one regard or another and its not really possible to find the perfect camera that can cover all needs and situations. At least that's my excuse for buying more cameras :)
When I opened up the top and cleaned the the viewfinder I also attempted to clean the rangefinder to improve the focusing patch. I think I was able to slightly improve it, but it's a bit hard to get to the rangefinder mirror and properly clean it without disassembling a bit more which I didn't risk doing. So for me it is what it is. As you mentioned guessing at focusing can work well. Based on the XA depth of field chart if you set it at about 5m-10m and are able to stop it down to F8 or F11 you can basically have everything 2m to infinity in focus and not have to worry about focusing.
@@gschissler Add a piece of 1mm*1mm of black tape in the center of the viewfinder. Life changer !
@@housemusic325 That's how i've got it set up on mine already. Great workaround!
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.
Sounds like you’ve found a gem Terry. Point and shoots are such handy little things!
hey, it's super easy to repair that closing in your camera, you can repair it yourself :)
Olympus Design visionary Yoshihisa Maitani designed both the Olympus XA-Series and the Olympus OM-1 Cameras. The XA is very small, very light camera that fit's in every pocket. It has a very sharp lens and is still relatively cheap rangefinder camera. Perfect for street photography because the Olympus XA is invisible and very quiet.
The Olympus XA ist definitely worth the cult status. I own one. Lucky me.
haha i am not going to spoil my verdict just yet, but we shall find out soon :)
@@BelindaJiao Haha I'm not interested in your verdict. 😜
Hi Belinda. I figured in advance you like the Olympus XA. At least a little bit. Now i know.
HA that’s all plotted isn’t it (: tbh, arguably done my best work with it
Only Olympus. Belinda...👌👌👌👌
What kind of film did you use in the sample shots of this video?
hey Ana as far as I remember there is Portra 160, Fuji color 100, Konica 100 :)
@@BelindaJiao ty! The images look lovely 🙂
Bought recently?
yes
I Always Carry My Backpack Everywhere so I always have my Apsc camera with me lol
lol tbh, if you could carry more with you ur at such an advantage. Not that the XA is handicapped, of course :)
😘😘😘
cheers mom!
IMO the XA is almost perfect for a 35mm film camera in terms of features and compact size. However, the purpose of a camera is to put the best quality image in film. By this standard, the XA is a failure. Skip the poor quality viewfinder and rangefinder. The "6 element" lens is a "Dog". Pick any other small 35mm camera - not just a T2 or Rollei 35 - ANY. The XA has more vignetting, more visible distortion, and the worst resolution by comparison. Why? As a matter of styling and to further miniaturizing the camera, Olympus required the designers to develop a lens which would physically fit inside the thin body and not extend for use. That required adoption of a design which no one had used, before or since. It hugely compromises the performance of the lens. This was accepted because the target market (per advertising) was vacationers and home snapshots. If you are getting 3x5 inch prints for grandma, or doing a low-res scan to put into social media, then its optical issues are not important, as the viewing media would work as well using a 1950s Kodak Brownie with plastic lens. If you want to make prints enlarged to 8 x 10 inches or larger, you are SOL. Better (and cheaper) option: the XA2 (same size as the XA), but the lens (decent 4 element Tessar copy design) pops out for use.
Hi! What would you recommend for a compact 35mm that doesn't break the bank please? I kind of like the aperture control of the XA but I don't have the budget for a T2... 😁 Thank you
@@jd5787 I haven't studied this class of camera so much as to the later, auto-focus options. For a contemporary of the XA, I'd look at the XA2 for reasons noted, or the Minox 35, which came in many models over the years, a later model as it initially had a lot of quality control issues. It is usualy a bit cheaper, lacking all of the hype of the XA. If you do not need a rangefinder or auto exposure, there is the Rollei 35 for top quality but slow working and more expensive. In the auto-focus, auto-exposure area, I'd look at the Konica Big Mini or one of the several variations of it. Note that what you choose should take into account what you do with the film images. If all you do is scan negatives to post on social media or pass around on a phone, the XA is a perfectly reasonable choice, in that those uses are the modern equal of what it was designed to do. Good hunting.
@@randallstewart175 thanks for the detailed reply! I am leaning towards getting a XA2 or a Big Mini or a 301. Writing while shooting my OM-2n right now 😁. Thanks and have a good weekend
You are the type of person who complains a civic can’t drive faster than a Lambo. If you just want a cheap pocket range finder cam with manual aperture control, XA is more than enough(or it might be the one of the kind in this category) as it’s lens is actually not that bad if you compare to pocket cam like t2. I don’t think anyone who needs serious image quality print would use a t2 or even 35mm, let alone xa2 or xa.
Be disappointed. To look for the perfect camera. Yes. About your videos. No. Never.
haha prepare to be surprised! pleasantly or not!
@@BelindaJiao Your channel deserve more subscribers. I try to trick the algorithm by commenting a lot. By my experience it helps a lot to come along. Don't wonder by short or silly comments. You will see your channel will grow soon.
oy am I dealing with a secret agent from RUclips here? :p thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I do believe the channel has a lot of potential, and it will happen. Patience is often an overlooked trait to artistry :)
@@BelindaJiao We will see. We start by 1400 subscribers today. Let's hope the counter is going up soon. 😜
@@BelindaJiao 1410. Already 10 subscribers more. What do you think?
Great deal and great choice on the XA. Your thought process makes me even more regret, passing up on one in the past. The reason I declined was because most scenarios I would want to use a pocketable film camera, a reusable/disposable is just the less stressful option.
Patrick, I think the source of stress has to do with overcoming the initial learning curve more than the camera per se.
Tbh I was quite anxious about the results when I took it on a trip for the first time. But I'm not sure if it would have been better if I took a disposable instead, given that I was equally unfamiliar with them both.
Good luck hunting down a pocket cam! It's somewhere out there :)
@@BelindaJiao Thanks. I'll keep looking.