The Olympus XA : The best film street photography camera?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 มิ.ย. 2018
- My Olympus XA is one of my favourite 35mm film cameras featuring rangefinder focusing and a beautiful 35mm f2.8 Zuiko lens in a tiny body! In this episode of Film Photography Friday I talk about why I bought 5 original Olympus XAs, how it is superior to it's successors, why I love using it and also showed off some results while shooting Kodak Colorplus 200 in Olso, Norway.
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Next weeks episode is about my Canon AF35M which I'm very excited to share but in the meantime check out the last episode in which I talked about my Contax T2 60th Anniversary Gold Edition • The Contax T2: The Ult...
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Just got my XA2 for 99 cents at a thrift store!
so lucky!!
Informative review, just what I needed to know.
Thank you for this well done review. I thinikng about buy a XA.
Great stuff man, I want an XA now haha
You saved me from buying XA 1, THANK YOU
great content. peace an prosperity my brother
I love my xa1. It is always in my pocket. It's not as advanced and controllable as the others but when I need to pull the camera out and take a photo I know it's gonna take the photo
To be honest the whole series is great due to the size and simplicity of them and I'll always recommend them!
imagine if you combined this with a roll of xp2super. You could change the iso for every shot for excellent results and a truly no excuses package.
Can you please do a review of the Olympus AF-1 Twin ? Thanks!
just got one great video cant wait to shoot some photos
That's great! Congratulations and enjoy 🙌
Sorry I ever got rid of mine. I don't even know when and why I let go. Such a capable little camera the XA was! Strangely, 40 years later, I still have that clamshell plastic case that it came in!
Thankfully just watched this video. Almost bought an XA2 yesterday, would have been very unhappy finding out it wasn’t a rangefinder!!
Yeah man it’s really important to look out for that, same general looks but a verrryy different camera
When you close the cover on your Olympus XA camera, it should disable the shutter release....at least it does on mine.
I had a new in box one for $10 about a year or two and I sold it for $100 right before the price spike and I’m so bummed lol. Now I NEED another
Found my xa and will try it on friday
gang
I you love small cameras with sharp lenses, I have a feeling you would totally dig the Minox 35. It's not a range finder so you have to guess the focus, but it's the smallest 35mm camera ever made and the lens is really sharp with gorgeous colour rendering.
I actually almost bought one a while ago but I missed out. The Minox is almost identical to my Lomo LCA that I'll be covering soon and am really excited about shooting with
Yeah, these small cameras with great lenses are a lot of fun! My Minox goes around pretty much everywhere with me these days. And because it's so small, I usually get 40 frames from a standard 36 frame roll. It also has huge focusing zones and a super quiet shutter, so it's brilliant for street photography.
One of my all time favourites!
I got a Minox 35GT from my grandpa. It's like new out of the box. It's not a rangefinder but you can zone focus + sunny 16 and you'll never need to guess anything. I also have the flash for the Minox and it turns into a tiny beast hahaha (the flash is like same size as the camera xD) I also use it for street. It's perfect, but I would really like to try this Olympus.
Hi I just got my Olympus XA and been trying out and I just wanted to ask on how do you deal on situations when you can't really properly see the shutter speed meter especially at times when you need to already take the shot so I'll just have no choice but to shot away and end up with an overexposed/underexposed shot. And also, what are your tricks on times when you see the shutter speed ramp up to 1/2500 or more to get a better exposed shot? Hope you can help me out, and just wanted to let you know that your video actually helped me decide to get and find this camera out! Thanks and hope to hear from you
This camera is so much fun! I used to have one years ago but it was stolen. Maybe I should get a new one, fortunately they're not very expensive.
They sure are, I feel like they're going to be really popular over the near future so I'd look at getting another one soon. When I posted this video I mentioned I was selling a few. I sold all of them but have recently gotten over 50 requests asking me to sell them the last of those cameras that I've left 😂
Aaron Fleming I have one and I’m selling it!!!
Lexaaa for how much? If you still have it, email me at ohiobucs5@yahoo.com
Literally every single review I watch of cult favorite cameras like this have a moment where the owner says "yeah I have several of these because they're getting scarce". You're literally making the problem worse by buying 7 copies of the same camera. This was a great video otherwise but I just got upset hearing that yet again from another film TH-camr. Don't buy a replacement until the one you have breaks. Leave them for other people.
While I understand your comment the ones that I got were from boxes of film cameras that were going to the bin and German flea markets. I sold all but one of the XAs I had to people looking for them soon after this video
@@AaronFleming I'm in germany right now could you reccomend any flea markets good for cameras?
Great video, I’m about to get into film, after looking extensively i think XA or XA 2 is the right choice.
Definitely the original XA and not the xa2 as it has a better lens, more control and rangefinder focusing. Best of luck with it, send me some results on Instagram when you have them 😊
Avoid XA2, it has selenium light meter that eventually will start to fail.
@@dmmen Actually, it's the XA1 that has a selenium light meter. The meters on the the XA and XA2 are battery-powered. I have both and the XA2 is almost as good as the XA. The XA goes for more money, and has rangefinder focusing, aperture-priority, a "better" lens and backlight compensation, as well as a minimum shutter speed of 10 seconds (if you're into night photography) versus the XA2's 2 seconds. For general street photography, the XA2 might have the edge. Focus defaults to "middle" distance, so for street photography you can shoot instantly without having to worry about focus or exposure. Exposure compensation can be done by simply changing the ISO setting on the camera as you go. I've never had a bad shot come out of it.
@@snapsnappist4529 You are completely right, I mixed up the models.
Regardless of the little mix up try and avoid the xa1 like the plague. I still see people online selling the xa1 with the description that should be for an xa1
Are you still shooting your XA ? I have been looking into what will be my first small camera for street and just learned of these little guys. After looking into the Minox 35GT and Pen F half frame both very tempting. I plan to pick up the XA myself.
Found an XA at the Salvation Army today. Hope it works! Great video
That's great best of luck with it!
Thank you!
The XA is high in my want list. The other is another Olympus the 35SP but until I sell some of my current stock of beauties my wife has banned me from buying anymore 😂and of course I always one her. Great review keep them coming 👍
I have both! amazing cameras!
We have an XA2 and we love it! Maybe we might have to invest in an original XA, heard so many good things about it!
XA2 is great but wait till you try an XA, it's so nice knowing the focus is on point with the rangefinder and also that 2.8 lens is a little stunner
Got a nice tested one with a11 flash, wrist strap and box for 85€ shipped. I think that's not a bad deal these days. I already have a like new AF-1 non Super. So now I have the same optics (at least that's what I heard) in a 100% automatic body and a aperture priority, manual focus body.
That's a really great deal! Congrats
what is the difference between a11 and a16 flash? thanks
the olymus XA is very high on my bucketlist!
sadly it is hard to find one in good condition for cheap!
thanks for sharing!
Yeah they're beautiful, I love them so much that I now have 5 (4 perfectly working and one that only takes pics in self timer mode that I'll either repair or have as a parts donor). I feel like the original XA could almost become rarer than the Contax T2
Thanks for watching mate, glad you enjoyed!
Where Olympus XA camera available for purchase and
what price.
I picked up an XA with the A11 flash at an estate sale today, along with some expired film and a lens cleaning kit for... $2. The only issue is that the shutter isn't releasing, and I can't turn the winder. Does it just need a new battery, or am I about to embark on some camera surgery?
That's an insane deal even if it doesn't work but I'd say you should be good if you just pop a battery onto it!
You were right- just needed a new pair of batteries! Man, that's a quiet shutter.
Congrats on your great find! It's crazyyyyyy quiet isn't?
As you say, the XA is the most complex of the versions; the following models were stripped in various ways to capitalize of the high volume of XA sales. It's limitations are mainly two. First, it is auto exposure only. You pick the lens aperture; the camera picks the shutter speed. It has a +1.5 stop over-ride for back-lite scenes, but no other user control. Secondly, contrary to statements here ans elsewhere, the lens is very compromised. (Which a nice way of saying, not so great.) To have the user convenience of having, the front cover slide over the lens without the lens moving in and out of the body (like Contax T2 or Rollei 35)
.... Olympus designed a unique lens which set far back in the camera body. It is sharp in the center but not into the edges, lots of corner darkening.
Funny you mention the vignetting because I found the vignetting not to be bad on the XA at all whereas in the T2 video I had to correct for vignetting in every single shot
8:37 vs. Contax T2: This doesn't waste space with a motor drive or built-in flash. ...but if the T2 is your favorite, you should absolutely take it with you and use it all the time. You will like it more, the more you use it. Also, if you weren't burning so much money on XA's, you could afford a back-up T2, hahaha.
Is it firing when closed? If so, it shouldn't be. I always wind on, then I shut the clamshell. I never get accidental shots. Also, on my camera the meter is inaccurate in the window, but not in exposure. So it might say 1/15th, but I take the shot anyway and get a sharp photo. I think this is a fairly common issue. Now I just think in terms of sunny 16, and if I know I have the light, I can ignore what the meter is telling me and be confident I'll get the shot.
No, with the copy that I was using the clamshell would open a bit without any effort meaning if I tap the shutter button it takes a shot! I've one with a broken exposure display also but I just ignore it as it still shoots perfectly!
how much did you pay if i may ask? i found one in my area for 80euro with a16 flash. Not sure if it's worth the money though.
It's 100% worth that with the flash! I sell them a lot under what eBay sells them for and even what I sell them for is more than 80 euro for one on its own so go for it!
Aaron Fleming ok thank you, i will look into it.
Yeah and it's so worth it as the lens is stellar on it. I'd much rather one of these than like a Yashica t due to the extra control you have and the size and lens
I’ve done digital photography but never film photography. I want to buy a film camera under $100. I’m thinking about this one.
Highly recommend it! Takes a little bit of time to learn but once you have the hang of it it's great!
Highly recommend it! 🙌🎉
Hello, I'm from Brazil, where can I buy the camera XA in the USA?
Go to eBay, there’s plenty available
or Olympus 35 rc, same ability, more versatile with a hot shoe, and better built
Yes only minus is can’t control speed and iso only 800 for streets I’d like to go about 1600 to close down to 16 now I have it I’m my pocket at 800 / f8 or f11 to make sure it will fire in high speed
How does this affect the exposure?
Make sure your forefinger nails are cut. Sharp nails will easily cut through the fragile rubber shutter button.
gang
I just got one from a Estate Sale, you interested?
haha
Colorplus better then porta400 at moments 👍
naw
Hello. Can I buy one of your Olympus xa camera?
Flashes were $15, now everyone's charging $80 for them, jeez
cousin?
except for the fact the shutter is garbage an sticks al lthe time. Google XA sticky shutter and get a million hits.
Fixable
I've had loads of these and the shutter has never stuck
if only it was digital
There's no need for it to be digital, just shoot film, it's a lot more fun