Olympus XA Goes to the Oregon Coast

BlueMoonCamera

Advertiser
Partner
Joined
Oct 7, 2009
Messages
49
Location
Portland, OR
Format
Multi Format
Years ago, humorist Dave Barry wrote in one of his newspaper columns of having a large main dog and a smaller auxiliary dog because it only seemed reasonable to do so. A pocketable 35mm camera is a reasonable analog for those "just in case" moments.




You can find more fascinating information and commentary in the International Camera Museum on our main website. While you're on the site, take a minute to subscribe to The Loupe, our free weekly newsletter!
 

miha

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2007
Messages
2,937
Location
Slovenia
Format
Multi Format
If this camera were still in production, I'd buy one in a heartbeat!
 

miha

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2007
Messages
2,937
Location
Slovenia
Format
Multi Format

Chan Tran

Subscriber
Joined
May 10, 2006
Messages
6,766
Location
Sachse, TX
Format
35mm
Well I have mine in great condition so no problem there. I have the few which the rangefinder patch is still very good.
 

benderscameracorner

Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2023
Messages
69
Location
Australia
Format
Medium Format
Chan Tran said:
If they make one today it would cost more than $500. Could be $1000.
Click to expand...

That's what they cost when they were new, back in the late '70s and early '80 - allowing for inflation (~USD150 then = ~USD600 today) - so the maths checks out. Improvements in automated mass production would likely be negated by the much smaller potential market for a new film camera, admittedly.

Then again, if the Pentax 17 had been a sexy, compact aperture-priority full-frame rangefinder with a fixed 35mm/f2.8 lens but with, say, an exposure compensation dial, a light meter that'll go from ISO12 to 6400 and a slightly larger viewfinder with a fresh rangefinder patch, it likely would have sold way more units, even if the price had been closer to a grand. The XA is one of the few 'hype' cameras that's still (a) affordable-ish and (b) actually worth those prices - mine gets regular use - but there's still opportunity to improve the formula for today's film shooter market.
 

Chan Tran

Subscriber
Joined
May 10, 2006
Messages
6,766
Location
Sachse, TX
Format
35mm

I paid $179 for a demo unit with the A11 flash in 1979. I think the price was higher than $200. I don't need the EC, the ASA dial works fine for the purpose. Of course if I can have manual exposure control it's even better. At the time I liked the Rollei 35 because it has manual exposure control but it lacked the rangefinder so I picked the XA.
 

Donald Qualls

Subscriber
Joined
Jan 19, 2005
Messages
12,246
Location
North Carolina
Format
Multi Format
I have one of those somewhere. These days, though, I usually prefer a normal lens over the somewhat wide one in the XA, so my (barely bigger when folded) Weltini (f/2 50 mm Xenon) is my preferred "just in case" pocket camera. No meter, but a longer RF baseline and faster lens.
 

miha

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2007
Messages
2,937
Location
Slovenia
Format
Multi Format
I still use it regularly, but not as a notebook as used to be the case (my smartphone handles that job nowadays):





Live gig, Berlin, Germany in 1999, film was KODAK SUPRA 800
 
Last edited:

eli griggs

Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2005
Messages
3,833
Location
NC
Format
Multi Format
I used mine to covertly photograph folks, especially in dining rooms and in linei have two XA2s to play with but the XA I bought as a project still does not work and I'd like to be carrying it, with another c
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…