Luck of the draw....
Luck of the draw....
So I picked up an Olympus XA2 and Mju I mainly because I don't like wearing cameras around my neck and I'd rather pull a small one out of my pocket.
They also look cool
My issues- the XA2 - I shoot close and in dim lighting and the scale focusing wasn't working out for me
Had two dead XAs (DOA on both)
Stylus/Mju I - SLOW and occasionally locks up and won't let me take the shot in certain situations. The turning off the flash every time kinda annoys me too
Is a "luxury" P&S the only way to go, or should I stick with small SLRs and RFs?
The camera's you are choosing are 45 years old and plastic. It takes a diligent search and kissing a lot of frogs to find a good one. When you do, sometimes it's work it. Millions of the plastic camera's built in the seventies are in land fills around the country, and more are languishing in closets, looking pristine but with old hardened lubricants and corrosion from batteries left in them.
Furthermore, they were high end "snapshot" camera's and you should not expect more of them.
However, find a well cared for and fully functional XA and you will be pleased, as long as you are expecting to get JUST nice shapshots. No macro, no extensive ISO/ASA range, a very tight little lever on the rangefinder, meaning perfect eyesight to handle the tiny window and match the patches, if they still show. (one trick is a black paint spot on the center of the outside of the front window).
Frankly, since the rangefinder is not so accurate for me, I like the XA2 better, even with it's lesser lens. But you must step off and learn the scale differences.
All in all, a crapshoot, but a nice one if you find the right camera. However, even in the best and fully working condition, you just may not find acceptance. Never had an Mjui but suspect they were even less well cared for than most XA's. XA2's were highly considered as a cheaper camera with a lesser lens. I find they take good snaps.
Still I find a good working XA2 to be more usable to me. In fact, I am drawn to the tiny bit of Vignette that EVERY XA2 I have ever used has created on the corners of the images. If that vignette is a problem for you, slight as it is, the XA2 is not your friend.
Probably easier to find an older reconditions Olympus RD metal body film camera. The jewel in my small camera is the Petri Color 35, called by Cameraquest, the camera that Rollei should have made. In fact, I think it's the one that Steve mentioned it's only flaw was that it does not say Rollei on the top. Another good predecessor to the XA series was any of the Olympus Trips, with the "no batteries required" selenium meter cell, if you can find one that has been stored religiously in it's leather case. Don't buy one without the case, as the meter will likely be dead.
However, as camera's go, the pocket rangefinders are generally nothing more than "shap shot" camera's built to fit in coat pockets as picture taking traveling companions. Not much of a camera for discerning photographers, but readily available for preserving memories.
I'm going tomorrow to look at a $20 XA2, and my last two working XA2's cost me $20 for both. I have the scale distances dialed into my feet, and I just hanker for that vignette.
