For Sale FS: Olympus XA4 brand new in the box

[Jon Goodman]

I suppose there is a possibility this is the only one of these anywhere. I'll admit I've wondered. Many years ago I worked in an office building which had a camera store downstairs. This XA4 sat in the display case where I watched it for a few weeks. Realizing no more of these would be made and there would be no more sale prices or promotions of this model, I bought it. The old fellow who owned the store insisted on installing new batteries for me and to my knowledge that is the only thing that was ever done. I removed them when I got home and never ran a single roll of film through this camera. The box is in very good condition except for a place where it looks like the corner of another box nicked it (you can see that in the first image below). The camera as I've said is new. The warranty card and paperwork are here. Many times I've heard people say "if only I could go back in time and buy a brand new XA4, I'd do it." Well, here is probably the only chance you'll ever get. I'll sell it for $325 plus the cost of insured and tracked shipping. No PayPal on this. If you're in another country, you need to contact me to see what we can work out. You can see the price when I bought it. If you have questions, please direct them to jon_goodman@yahoo.com

Jon

 

[Ken Nadvornick]

Wow...

Gotta' admit I never thought I'd see another one of these as brand new. I have an original XA myself. Original owner, am I, and I love it.

What a rare treat. Some additional details here and here, if anyone's interested. If I hadn't already just purchased another brand new camera I might have jumped at this guy myself.

Good luck with the sale.

Ken

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

I imagine the XA4 is extremely rare, in flawless presentation perhaps down to 1 in 5 \worldwide; this being NIB makes it even rarer. It looks beautiful. Reminds me of a sudden power surge I had when I happened across a NIB, mint XA. Pounced on it without hesitation (warranty expired in April 1985...). And this camera has DX??
Let's all hope you sell it to a film user who truly appreciates these wonderful little cameras that really blazed a trail back in the 1980s. I'm never going to part with mine.

 

[Jon Goodman]

Yes it does have DX, and also the manual explains that the carry strap functions as a measuring device for the macro capability of the camera. If you look at the XA4, you'll quickly see the slide on the side is different than the XA, XA2 or XA3. It is a foot measure scale. The camera will focus at 1 foot, 1.7 feet, 2.3 feet and up to infinity at the top. The XA4 wasn't sold in quite the numbers the XA and XA2 was. The XA3 also has DX, by the way. I picked up an XA2 after they first came out and it instantly became a favorite of my wife. Actually only one other camera became so popular with her so rapidly...a Chinon Genesis I bought after the XA2 was stolen from our hotel room. She still uses that camera today.
Jon

 

[BardParker]

Jon, you are selling some really nice stuff! If my wife wouldn't kill me, I would buy this. But, since I installed your outstanding reseal kit on my old Olympus XA it has been working like a champ! Best of luck with the sale.

Kent

 

[Jon Goodman]

Thanks Kent! You should have seen how my wife reacted when I brought the XA4 home all those years ago. In fact, just seeing the box again this morning caused the temperature to drop by about 10 degrees in here. Oh well, a little controversy, strife, disagreement and threat of murder might be good for a relationship for all I know.
Jon

 

[Steve Smith]

I bought one of these for £0.50 ($0.78) at an outdoor sale a few years ago. Mine didn't have the original box though!!


Steve.

 

[Jon Goodman]

I wish I could have bought this one for 78 cents, Steve. Of course if I bought it at an outdoor sale in Texas, it might be a melted blob. I think we're trying to corner the market on global warming.
Jon

 

[Ken Nadvornick]

Sorry Jon. Can't get your brand new XA4 off my mind...

For anyone thinking about purchasing this beauty, check out John Agoncillo's XA4 gallery to see what can be done on the street with these cameras and zone focusing. (Keep clicking Next Page at the top, most are single images, but some pages multi-photo mini-essays.)

Ken

 

[Jon Goodman]

Ken, I understand entirely. It happens to me also...thoughts get stuck in the sludge pit I call my brain and they just won't leave. Thanks for the link...very interesting and some terrific work he's done with the XA4. Especially the out of focus areas in some of those photos. You wouldn't expect to be able to produce work like that from this camera, would you?

Jon

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Yes it does have DX, and also the manual explains that the carry strap functions as a measuring device for the macro capability of the camera. If you look at the XA4, you'll quickly see the slide on the side is different than the XA, XA2 or XA3. It is a foot measure scale. The camera will focus at 1 foot, 1.7 feet, 2.3 feet and up to infinity at the top. The XA4 wasn't sold in quite the numbers the XA and XA2 was. The XA3 also has DX, by the way. I picked up an XA2 after they first came out and it instantly became a favorite of my wife. Actually only one other camera became so popular with her so rapidly...a Chinon Genesis I bought after the XA2 was stolen from our hotel room. She still uses that camera today.
Jon

Seems to have similarities to the XA2, though infinitely better than it — DX being one strong selling point. XAs came with either foot measure or metric measure, depending on market. The USA got the foot measure, while UK and Europe got the metric measure, as did the Oceania region. My first three XAs IIRC were metric; my fourth, present one, is foot measure and came from Green Mountain Camera in Virginia, USA. Now that's quite a solo journey for a little camera!!

 

[Jon Goodman]

The lens in the XA4 is different. If you open an XA and look at the rear element, you'll notice it is a larger diameter than the XA2. The XA3 is like the XA2 (smaller in diameter), but then the XA4 rear element is more akin to the XA. The XA1 on the other hand is another setup altogether.
Jon

 

[eurekaiv]

That's an amazing find. I feel like I should tip you just for showing me the pictures.

 

[Jon Goodman]

Hi folks,
Sorry for the absence. At times demands on my time cause my life to whirl out of orbit, and the past couple of months have been just that. Recently somebody asked me about this camera and whether it had sold. It didn't sell, and so this weekend, I'll sell the XA4 for $250 plus shipping cost. If you want it, here's your chance. I originally paid $299 plus 8% tax.
Jon

 

[Jon Goodman]

The XA4 is still here. A handful of people have tried to figure out how to purchase it, however they all live in other countries and there are invariably problems with shipping, customs, insurance, VAT and so forth. Bottom line is there are not any acceptable options for mailing this camera to another country. I mean it all comes down to this: the seller either has to lie about the value and not ship insured and take the risk of delivery or the buyer has to pay some high taxes (20% or more). So, I've decided it must be sold inside the USA. If anyone is interested, please let me know. Final offer is $250 and I'll pay for shipping and insurance (inside the USA, that is). Payment by check or money order, please.
Jon

 

[sreed]

I am very happy to report that I bought this camera last night.

Interestingly enough, Jon and I live in the same part of town and we met at a coffee shop for the exchange.

The camera and box are exactly as he described: New, with just a small ding in the box.

Being a confirmed Zuikoholic, this is quite the find for me.