In praise of the Olympus XA2 !

I am an OM-1 owner and user and Maitani's designs are great... Just look at how they are replicated with digital Olympuses.
Dad has a trip 35, but the poor thing needs a complete overhaul... Either way it still keeps working quite well and it's really fun to shoot. XA2 must be very similar.

Did look into the XA2 for a Philippines trip and I regret not getting one. The OM sat unused much time because I couldn't carry it inconspicuously in a daily basis. A local relative helped me going around and he recommended me not having any kind of camera visible most of the time.
Next time I'm bringing a P&S for sure!

Both the RF XA and MjuII/Stylus Epic are going for pretty bucks around, at least for a student like me (100-150$ on a gross search).
 
Tijmendal said:
Sorry for threadjacking, but I'm on my second XA2 now (my first one died) and the shutter is really bad - as in: I have to press it 5-10 times for it to fire. My first XA2 wasn't really good as well, but this is even worse; weird considering this one is in IMMACULATE condition apart from the shutter.
I know XA's are known for having very sensetive shutters (like my XA). Anyone got a cure? The red shutters on both my XA2's are more recessed than on my XA too. Thanks.
Click to expand...

My XA2 had this problem. If you're handy with tools, it's not too difficult to get the top off and then clean the shutter button contacts with contact cleaner. While you're in there you can bend the spring tabs so the shutter button sits slightly higher and feels a little stiffer.
 
jenquest said:
Indeed, same here. Another bonus is Her Loveliness doesn't mind if I take it with me whenever we go out.
Click to expand...

Hi,

Interesting point, it seems to be a friendly camera in many ways; people don't seem to mind me using it either but seem wary of bigger cameras.

Regards, David

PS Just don't lend it to her and expect to get it back soon/that year. ;-)
 
I picked up my XA2 at a camera fair in about 2007. From the first roll, it had an intermittent light leak that looked like a gorgeous orange-gold alien transportation beam.

The XA2 is so much fun to use, and it's exactly the camera I wish I'd had from my teenage years and onwards. Quiet and pocketable, it would have been my past-equivalent of today's Ricoh GR series.
 
As an XA2 owner, from today's perspective, I think XA lineup should have been XA1 with 45..50mm lens and rangefinder for normal people, XA2 (XA4 now) with scale focus 28mm lens for wide people and XA3 (XA2 now) with scale focusing 35-38mm lens for common people.
Current XA1 and XA3 could be omitted, most probably.
 
I'd be curious to try the XA3 (28mm lens, if I recall?) - I have the XA2 and while it's certainly well designed and handy, I'm not so impressed with the results.

I need to shoot some slower film than 400/800, perhaps, but it's not as sharp as I'd have thought, to be blunt. Definitely an interesting camera and useful for a certain look, I guess...not quite my main street shooting camera by any means.
 
Just got my first XA2 roll back, the fault is all mine, the camera seems to work well, the photographer not quite so well as yet haha
 
Colin Corneau said:
I'd be curious to try the XA3 (28mm lens, if I recall?) - I have the XA2 and while it's certainly well designed and handy, I'm not so impressed with the results.

I need to shoot some slower film than 400/800, perhaps, but it's not as sharp as I'd have thought, to be blunt. Definitely an interesting camera and useful for a certain look, I guess...not quite my main street shooting camera by any means.
Click to expand...

The XA4 ha the 28 mm lens, the XA3 is like the XA2, but with DX coding, and the option to manually set ISO to 1600. And I think that the XA2 has a front-focusing lens, while the XA3 seems like it might be a unit-focus design.
 
Got the XA2 for $3 USD, really like it!

The optics are perfect, but the advance wheel gets stuck 3-4 times per roll forcing me to punch it a couple of times on the side until it works again.

From the first roll 🙂
content

content
 
I switch regulary between the XA and XA2.XA for more slowtime,still photography,XA2 for more streetshots and non-photocentric actions(everyday or walking in town).I have also a digital compact,so i try to use film for more serious shots.XA2s bigger advantages for me is the lack for fumble with the camera and think instead about the motive;distance and angle of shot.
 
Tricky to call XA better.....

Tricky to call XA better.....

Have had multiples of each.

I favor the XA2 for the zone focus.

While the lens is marginally better on the XA, the zone focus of the XA2 is much improved over the short, fiddly, throw of the rangefinder lever. The pictures are quite similar.

The XA2 is slightly prone to vignette. Very mild and keeps the eye from bleeding out of the corners of the picture. I am told that vignette often scores a bit better than NO vignette in competitive picture judging because of that factor.

You can often by four very nice XA2's for the price of an XA.

I no longer have any XA's but I have two XA2's and a Trip.
 
Still going

Still going

U17034I1592227208.SEQ.0.jpg


Mine is still going. Was my poolside camera when my kid was small. Now my always-in-the-car camera.
 
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The XA2 is still in my collection, and remains the camera I now wish I'd had as a teenager and young adult. The clamshell case is pretty robust and protects everything, ISO 400 film makes it versatile for most light conditions, and it even has a timer!
 
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