Olympus XA
Introduced in 1979, the Olympus XA remains a pocket sized wonder. Praised for design, size, lens quality and, most importantly, image quality.
There is so much love for this camera that I felt obliged to love it too. I am impress with the size. The quality is great. The design is clearly innovative. So why did it not do it for me? It's not you it's me, sorry XA. I think you are ugly and a bit clumsy to use. There, I said it.
If you have seen my other posts, you know I have a thing for the Minox 35. Let me be clear, even a casual user like me will not argue that the Minox 35 is a higher quality camera than the Olympus XA. The XA is better built, has a better lens, is just slightly larger, has a compact flash that still leave it pocketable and provides superior controls. So what is my problem? I love the simplicity of the Minox 35. I do not like the slide open cover on the Olympus or the focus lever that hides inside the cover.
My Take:
This is a great little workhorse that would be a great add to any bag or pocket. With a XA, you would have no excuse for not having a film camera with you all the time. I prefer the design and simplicity of the Minox 35 but will shoot the XA more after this project because I think it is a better camera, I just need to get use to it.
Lens: Fixed Olympus F-Zuiko 35mm f2.8
Film: Expired FujiColor Supera X-TRA 400