need tips on handling an xa

[tmfabian]

So i just bought an xa and was pretty excited about it after reading all the good things about the little fella, but quickly found out that due to it's light weight and more than likely my comfort with shutter releases with more travel i've ended up with alot of my rolls having a ton of camera shake. Any tips on holding this lil bugger?

 

[cmedin]

Strap an RB67 to it? 🙂

Honestly, it's the same as any other camera, steady your hands, brace your arms in a position that works, breathe out slowly and squeeze the shutter.

I suck at it too...

 

[fbf]

I love my xa. I never had problems handling it. Maybe I have big hands? The way I hold it: use both hands to make a rectangle and put the xa *inside it.
Hope this helps. Once again, I love my xa...very much.

 

[tmfabian]

I think my problem is that it's sooo tiny and light i can operate it with one hand and i'm not taking the extra half second to pop my other hand on it for support.

 

[anandi]

I have small hands, but my main issues was triggering the shutter unexpectedly before completely composing the shot. I spend an extra couple of seconds making sure I'm ready to press the shutter release now - it vastly helped. Other minor point is to shoot as wide open as possible to increase the shutter speed (of course this has to be weighed against accuracy of focussing and depth of field). Cheers.

 

[jmilkins]

The eletronic shutter release on these little gems are very sensitive. A great big push when you are holding it in one hand only is a sure fire method to camera shake.

maybe get a sense of the wee beastie's hair trigger without a film loaded - just roll your finger over the release and you'll be amazed at how easy the thing goes off.

I have had the contacts cleaned on mine in the past, becasue they can get dirty and not fire easily, so that might also be an issue.

optimium aperture for sharpness on the XA was around f5.6 - 8 I think.

 

[Trius]

For the XA I think you need 2 hands, for sure. I don't shoot any camera with one hand (at least only very rarely), but the XA would be the last candidate for that style, IMO.

 

[OlyMan]

You guys are lucky 🙁 The Great Man only gave me the one hand in the first place, but I manage. AND I shoot with manual SLRs and manual rangefinders. Not an autofocus camera in my whole kit, except the DSLR

 

[indianavince]

People don't believe me bu the smaller the camera the better the "tripod" needed. Accuracy goes up by exponential factors the smaller you go.

 

[DaveSee]

While I'd agree with the posts made on light gear being more prone to "heavy handedness", the XA is tricky for me because the shutter speed is "AE" mode all the time: that is, you may not "feel" the exposure time(that may be longish), thus the shake-influenced pics.... it's very quiet too, the shutter.

Despite its size, I tend to shoot this rig a tad more deliberately, waiting until the shutter closes before moving on. The one downside I find with it, this AE shutter; otherwise, a terrific camera.

rgds,
Dave

 

[kuzano]

There's a trick I use on static subjects. I set the timer and push the shutter. Then all my attention is spent on holding the camera steady and waiting for the shutter to click. On important images, you'd be amazed at how much improved your focus is. It's a bit of a challenge to wait for the 10 second timer, but it is truly worth the wait. On one of my small digital cameras (finepix ZD5fd) there is a 2 second delay. I almost always use that one on the timer and it's been an incredible improvement when I just have to hold the camera steady. That's if there isn't a signpost or tree handy to hold the camera next to. Take a few pics, pressing the shutter gently, and then take a few pics with the timer and just waiting out the timer. I think you will be surprized.