Faulty XA from eBay... Surprised? Not really.

[agoglanian]

Hey guys!

I recently acquired 2 different XAs, one locally and one from eBay. The local one cost a lot more but it was working perfectly and it had some history with the original owner which I really liked. (he bought it new almost 30 years ago and has taken it all over the globe)

The eBay one which just arrived today is in decent cosmetic condition and the VF looks really good still! However I don't think the lens is working properly. When I compare the two side by side I noticed the "good" XA will open and close the aperture when I adjust the lever for aperture control. The "bad" XA does not do this, it appears to stay wide open the whole time. I opened the camera and everything inside is still nice and clean but after tripping the shutter at different aperture settings the lens always is wide open. The interesting part is that the meter is still reading the correct exposure as if the aperture were closing properly.

Other than that the only issue I can find is that the rewind crank is loose so the handle flops open easily.

The "bad" XA also came with an A11 flash that I cannot seem to get to work even with fresh batteries. Could be user error, but it's pretty simple looking and I'm pretty savvy with figuring cameras out. (edit: Turns out I should have just read the manual. Seems to still work, the ready lamp doesn't light up though but otherwise it works. Figures.)

Any ideas on how to fix the camera? I know I could send it to Mr. Hermanson, but to be truthful I am not looking to sink a lot of money into one of these since I only spent $20 on it. (No offense to him because I know his work is absolutely spectacular)

- Abram

 

[Darkhorse]

Did you get the good one at the used camera shop in Costa Mesa? I called there not too long ago asking if they had an XA and he said he had just sold one.

I unfortunately can offer no help with the bad one. Are the batteries in the camera still fresh?

 

[agoglanian]

Nope I met with a guy locally through Fred Miranda. I pop in that store from time to time to look for old lenses I can adapt to my canons but ever since he brought his son in to sell bicycles there hasn't been many good deals that I've found. Regardless I still go check 🙂

The battery still seems to be ok, it beeps when I set it to the battery check mode.

I have no idea what is wrong with it. I suppose it'll be ok if I always shoot at f/2.8 haha!

 

[Darkhorse]

I went into the store once. I think I bought some Minolta extension tubes. He did have this tiny 35mm rangefinder, East German, with a Jena (Zeiss) lens. Sort of like a Retina, and it had bellows. I wanted to buy it but he said it had already been sold.

 

[benlees]

I had the (almost) opposite experience. The local camera shop had a decent XA. At first I thought the owner said $95- I thought that is a little high but I could return it easily. Turns out he wanted $195!! "No thanks!", I said and high-tailed it to my computer. 6 hours later I had on the way an ebay XA for a little over a quarter of what the local guy wanted. It works perfectly, thankfully. Of course half the fun of ebay is to see what turns up in your mail box!

 

[agoglanian]

Yeah, I'm not mad about it, you always take a chance with eBay and the seller did say it was untested and AS-IS, he posted plenty of pictures to show the condition and it didn't look too bad. I figured $20 wasn't too much of a gamble.

I'm glad the other one works though (Well. Appears to work. I need to develop the test roll of film and find out!)

 

[gavinlg]

XA's are delicate. I have a mint and probably never used one, shutter jammed on 1st roll. I had an older and worse one, shutter jammed on 1st roll.

I'll send the new one for a rebuild one day. When they work, they're really, really really good.

 

[agoglanian]

Really? I thought they were more robust. Granted they're mostly made of plastic, but I've heard legends told about these things lol!

What's a good alternative to the XA that's not super expensive?

 

[btgc]

What's a good alternative to the XA that's not super expensive?

XA2 is great - costs next to nothing, delivers a ton.

 

[capito]

Not too long ago I won an XA from eBay Austria. When it arrived I was initially very pleased: it was in perfect shape and looked almost unused. Just a weensy bit of corrosion on the battery contacts.
After a test roll and a few days later I discovered I had a lemon. The batteries were flat and already leaking. It seems that it either doesn't switch off properly or has a short somewhere. And no, I wasn't particularily peeved. All my other XAs (a XA, XA2 and XA3) work perfect.

 

[Krosya]

What's a good alternative to the XA that's not super expensive?

Not really the same, as they are AF, but same compact size, great lenses, etc. : Olympus Stylus Epic (?) - one with a fixed lens (non-zoom) and Pentax UC-1. Pentax is harder to find.
I used to have a couple of XAs, but never did warm up to them - just too fiddly RF for my taste. I could never find a good/comfortable way to hold and focus them. AF cameras that size make a lot more sense to me.

 

[btgc]

Not really the same, as they are AF, but same compact size, great lenses, etc. : Olympus Stylus Epic (?) - one with a fixed lens (non-zoom) and Pentax UC-1. Pentax is harder to find.
I used to have a couple of XAs, but never did warm up to them - just too fiddly RF for my taste. I could never find a good/comfortable way to hold and focus them. AF cameras that size make a lot more sense to me.

Speaking about AF and proper size, new kid on the block is Konica Off-road Wide, but you need to like 28mm FOV.I'll just say that having this camera couple of years before now would free me from endless search.

Krosya, as Konica feinschmecker you are obeyed to look at it!

 

[Krosya]

Well, those Konicas are hard to find and they often cost more than I'd spend on such a camera. I would like to try one though, even is 28mm is not my favorite FL.

 

[agoglanian]

I took a look at those suggestions and found a couple of them. Admittedly I prefer a black camera if possible (purely for aesthetic reasons) I did come across a UC-1 on eBay right now that ends in a couple hours. The Olympus Epic sounds interesting but the only thing I'm not excited about is the loud automatic film advance. My EOS 630 is so loud it's impossible to be discreet with it.

That's one thing I really liked with the XA how practically invisible and silent it is. No one pays attention to you when you're shooting with it 😉

Are there any other cameras like the XA that are manual? I do still have my 35 SP, but it really needs to have a full CLA as the lens has some dots of fungus and I have no idea if everything else is working. Just not sure if I want to invest the money into it.... (Yet I can't seem to let go of it haha)

 

[stewmander]

I just bought an XA on ebay, and am in the middle of my first test roll. The camera looks and operates perfectly, I just popped in two new batteries and was ready to go. So far I really like the camera, I prefer it over my Rollei 35S, although the Rollei feels much more substantial and operates like the high precision German piece of engineering, I do not care for the zone focusing too much. The photos from the Rollei are awesome when you do get the focus right though.

Re: the XA aperature not changing from wide open but light meter still reading the correct aperature. I read that there are two light meters, one for the shutter and one for the aperature (or something like this, dont remember exactly). Anyway, the aperature light meter has a plate in front of it with different size holes. These holes correspond to the aperature setting, so when you set the aperature, the plate rotates, and the corresponding hole moves in front of the light meter. Thus, the light meter is reading the light through the hole, and it reads the correct light even though the aperature itself stays wide open. Hope this makes some sense...but if you look at the XA just above the lense and focus distance read out and change the aperature, you can see the plate with holes move as well.

 

[btgc]

I did come across a UC-1 on eBay right now that ends in a couple hours. The Olympus Epic sounds interesting but the only thing I'm not excited about is the loud automatic film advance.

Oly Stylus Epic isn't loud camera in my understanding. Precursor Stylus could be louder. I don't have UC-1 though it's a big question whether it's more silent.

 

[David Hughes]

The UC-1, which I call a Pentax ESPIO mini is a great camera, so's the µ-I and µ-II and the zoom µ-III; then there's the brilliant Leica mini etc.

FWIW, the XA that's dud would benefit from a repair IMO as everything will be checked over and the result will be a super little camera.

As for an alternative to the XA, try the XA2 or XA3. Zone focus is simple once you know the camera and XA2's and 3's go dirt cheap as the XA overshadows them. The XA3 has the advantage of the XA's +1½EV adjustment, which is brilliant.

Regards, David

PS Fresh batteries usually make the A11 neon glow. When they are nearly dead the neon stops glowing but the flash should still be there but takes ages to charge and you're never quite sure. Experience of several also tells me that the neon can fail but I just don't know how to get into the casing without doing a bit of damage.

 

[John Hermanson]

Jammed diaphragm blades usually means oil on the blades. I see a lot of XAs with that problem. John