xa broken :(

Markok765 · Aug 21, 2009

Hey everyone. My xa wasn't working, so I thought the batteries had gone. I bought new ones and put them in, but it is still not working.
I even tried cleaning the contacts. Any other fixes, or is my xa dead? I don't have any other point and shoots for this trip, my only working camera now is a leica with 15mm, so I can't use slides anymore(no light meter)
Any help?

Jon Shiu · Aug 22, 2009

is the meter working, how about battery check function? Sometimes the winding interlock, or cover interlock contacts prevent the shutter from firing. I have an old xa2 that will sometimes only fire after jiggling the film advance a bit prior to pressing the shutter button.

Jon

Eric Rose · Aug 22, 2009

still think it's a "professional" camera LOL. I had an XA2 that went TU on me, I took it all apart, and was unable to fix it. The problem with them is the internal circuitry, once it's gone it gone for good. Fortunately the XA's are cheap and plentiful. My advise, pick up a cheap light meter and use your Leica.

Rol_Lei Nut · Aug 22, 2009

A very common problem on the XA is the shutter release button contact. If the battery check is working then that's a likely candidate.

Taking off the release button and cleaning the contacts underneath is a (careful) DIY job.

Markok765 · Aug 22, 2009

Battery check isn't even working

Q.G. · Aug 22, 2009

Before opening the camera, or giving up on it, try yet other batteries.
There's always a possibility that a battery is dead, even with 'fresh' ones.

Steve Smith · Aug 22, 2009

Markok765 said:
Battery check isn't even working

It's most likely the battery contacts then. Dirty contacts amount to 99% of the problems with these cameras.

Steve.

Nicholas Lindan · Aug 22, 2009

You can take slides without a light meter. Just get one of the exposure guides floating about on the internet or buy a Black-Cat guide.

If you are only shooting at one ASA then a 3x5 index card will hold all the exposure information you will need in nice convenient form.

Markok765 · Aug 22, 2009

I tried cleaning the battery contacts as well. In addition, my eyes are generally more accurate than a exposure chart.
I'll try using a dslr as a lightmeter for slide film.

elekm · Aug 22, 2009

The XA is fully automatic, so how will you know if the exposure is accurate when trying to use a DSLR as a light meter?

Markok765 · Aug 22, 2009

No, no. I'm using the dslr as a light meter for my last remaining camera, a fully manual leica rf.

Leighgion · Aug 22, 2009

You won't know if your XA is dead for sure until a qualified tech can handle it. I can't think of any other user-end things to try that you haven't already.

John Koehrer · Aug 22, 2009

He won't but his eyes are more accurate anyway.

Jon Shiu · Aug 22, 2009

elekm said:
The XA is fully automatic, so how will you know if the exposure is accurate when trying to use a DSLR as a light meter?

The xa is an aperture priority camera where you select the aperture and the shutter speed shows in the viewfinder. You can also change the film speed setting to alter exposure and there is a backlight compensation setting.

Jon

Q.G. · Aug 23, 2009

Jon Shiu said:
The xa is an aperture priority camera where you select the aperture and the shutter speed shows in the viewfinder. You can also change the film speed setting to alter exposure and there is a backlight compensation setting.

But none of that will work when none of that works...

So even when you are using a separate meter, there is no way to set the XA to expose correctly.

removed account4 · Aug 23, 2009

marko

is it the whole camera that is dead ? or just the meter?
if the meter is dead you can easily do a reading like you do for your rf
but if the shutter isn't working, from what i understand it is run by a magnet/s,
and once they go you are outta luck. maybe you can bring/send your camera
to a repair person who can tell you exactly what might be wrong. estimates
are sometimes free ...

ann · Aug 23, 2009

there is always the old fashion method "sunny 16 "

Markok765 · Aug 23, 2009

Nothings working at all, no signs of 'life'

Q.G., I was using the XA as a lightmeter for my RF

John Hermanson · Aug 24, 2009

First establish that batteries are good. If you get a tone and LED on battery check, that's a good place to start. Will it fire when the back is open (loading mode)? When you fire it in self timer, do you hear a VERY faint click at the end when the shutter should fire? If so, camera has oily magnet. When an XA or XA2 break, they're not "gone for good". John, www.zuiko.com

Steve Roberts · Aug 24, 2009

Silly question, but someone has to ask it - have you put the replacement batteries in the the right way around?

Steve

Markok765 · Aug 28, 2009

I don't hear anything at all, and yes, I put the batteries in correctly.
Guess its back to my (almost as good) olympus stylus epic. It also has a nice spotmeter.

IloveTLRs · Aug 28, 2009

Did you put in LR44 or SR44 batteries? It can make a difference.

Unfortunately XAs can be quite fragile.
Fortunately as someone else said, they're plentiful and cheap.

elekm · Aug 29, 2009

First off, I think the XA might be toast. Or it might need to be disassembled and cleaned thoroughly.

At the least, I think it will require some disassembly for a correct diagnosis.

Second, go out and buy a used light meter. There is no need to use a second camera as a light meter.

abstraxion · Aug 30, 2009

Unfortunately, XAs aren't really that cheap anymore if they're in good condition. If you're looking for a lightmeter cam, I'd also recommend the Minox 35 GT. I picked mine up in like new condition with a nice Sunpak flash and all the Skylight/ND proprietary filters for under $30. It's got a nice little match needle aperture priority (but scale focus) system.

xa broken :(

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