My first XA shoots

[Kozhe]

Hi everybody! This is my first post at RFF and I´m pretty sure it´s not gonna be my last 😉

I just started playing with an Olympus XA I took from my father´s 35mm collection. I find it to be an extremely handy camera but I´m pretty unhappy with the extremely long exposure time for speeds below 1/30, I think it might need a repair! Most of the shoots, let´s say 20 out of 36 are too blury, and it´s almost imposible to make a photo in a pub or house interior unless you point it directly to a light source, I wish I could cheat the automatic system somehow.

Hope you like them and any crude criticism is wellcome! 🙂

 

[George Bonanno]

The pictures are fine... no problem whatsoever.

 

[windraider]

What ISO film are you using?
I don't think there is anything wrong with your XA.
Usually pics come out blurry for speeds below 1/15, and the usual speed in pubs and other indoor venues with dim lighting with ISO 200 film is 1/8 or slower.
You can "cheat" on exposure by pushing the ISO tab to 800 - but that might cause underexposure.

 

[Kozhe]

I was using Fuji 800 for these shoots, that´s why I think something might be wrong. Beside some 8-10 photos the rest of the film had way too long exposures even for such a high ASA and with a 2.8 aperture at home or at the office. Compared to my Nikon F2 the XA does need a lot more exposure time, maybe it´s just the way its small lens works.

Now I put a 400 Tri-X B/W and set it as 800, I hope to get something cooler this time 🙂

 

[Solinar]

You did quite well considering the light sources at the bar.

The daylight shots look fine at 800, as does the night shots where ambient lighting completely fills the frame. Where the XA screws up is in night shots that have the subject standing in bright light but the surrounding area is in darkness. If you are standing too far from the subject - the meter will bias towards the dark areas in the frame and the subject on stage will usually be over exposed.

A musician on stage in a darkened night club or music venue will usually be over exposed unless you can get closer. Here is where you'll wish to have ISO 400 film loaded and set the camera to 800 and then switch the film speed dial back to 400 for daylight photography. Unfortunately 800 is the max adjustment for the film speed on the XA.

In low light - the XA still beats most digitals that fit in a shirt pocket.

 

[simonSE15]

I wish I could cheat the automatic system somehow.

you hit the nail on the head. the others have pointed out as much as you can do to over-ride it by changing the asa setting. as much as I love my XAs they're just not cut out for this kind of photography.

 

[shadowfox]

I like the first shot a lot. Very dynamic and sharp where it counts.
The XA always have a way to surprise me from time to time despite my expectations. 🙂

 

[zuikologist]

I was using Fuji 800 for these shoots, that´s why I think something might be wrong. Beside some 8-10 photos the rest of the film had way too long exposures even for such a high ASA and with a 2.8 aperture at home or at the office. Compared to my Nikon F2 the XA does need a lot more exposure time, maybe it´s just the way its small lens works.

Now I put a 400 Tri-X B/W and set it as 800, I hope to get something cooler this time 🙂

I had the same problem with an XA a while ago - looong exposures over 1 sec when I would not expect them. I exercised the camera by tripping the shutter and freeing up the mechanism/possibly clearing out dust etc from contacts. It works ok now. Give the camera some more exercise.

 

[Kozhe]

I had the same problem with an XA a while ago - looong exposures over 1 sec when I would not expect them. I exercised the camera by tripping the shutter and freeing up the mechanism/possibly clearing out dust etc from contacts. It works ok now. Give the camera some more exercise.

Hmm, I´ll give it a try. Weird thing is that despite the slow shutter thing photos seem to be correctly exposed anyway, so maybe there´s nothing wrong at all with my XA and it´s just how it´s supossed to work with low light environments. Initially though I could use the XA as my pocket camera for pub nights with 800 ASA film, but I don´t think that´s something it can really handle.

A pretty cool camera anyway 🙂