jan normandale
Film is the other way
Olympus were and are the best for pocket sized P/S style cameras. I've an XA, XA-2 and Stylus.. the XA is the bizznizz for sure. Very sharp with manual focus, it's almost like a full blown RF except the size. The Stylus is a good one but Olympus never made a lens to compare with their initial offering the XA. Keep an eye open for one. They'll go for $25 - $40 at a lot of flea markets. Even some used camera spots will have them for $50 - $60.
Bingley
Veteran
+1. I picked up a second XA in Classifieds here recently. I agree completely about the lens. Put iso 800 film in it and it's a neat evening shooter.
Darkhorse
pointed and shot
Actually I've had an XA before but didn't find it as sharp as I do the Stylus Epic.
chubasco
Well-known
They dropped more glass elements in the XA and is a good performer. I didn't get on with it because of the fiddly focus lever under the lens.
For greatest portability/convenience *and* built-in flash, the Epic is
hard to beat. My Epic was given to me by a friend and looks like it fell
out of the sky, still works superbly (by other shooters, lol). A recent pic
of a fellow retired corpsman buddy using the Epic, BW conversion:
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jan normandale
Film is the other way
That's interesting, as I mentioned I have 3 various models (XA, XA2, Stylus) and I like them all for varying reasons. My cameras in order of crispness / sharpness is XA, Stylus, XA2. I think the XA2 suffers a little due to it's zone focus but all 3 are capable pocket cameras. For the cash they are a tough act to beat and they seem to live forever. I do like the metal bodies of the XA and XA2 which is lacking on the Stylus.
If you get a chance I'd be interested in an A/B of your two camera's photographs if you still have both.
Either way they deliver a lot of performance for such a small package
Darkhorse
pointed and shot
The XA was a good camera, don't get me wrong. But it was just tricky for me to use, being an eyeglass wearer, and with the tiny RF patch and the fiddly little focus knob.
Oly Xa
It is reasonably sharp too. My quest has been a 35mm camera that is nothing but convenient and small. I've been through a lot of them, the Oly RC (all around wonderful but did not like how it handled out of focus areas), the Rollei 35 S (exceptional lens... but my depth perception is horrible so scale focus is a problem).
I've just bought another Stylus Epic, so I'll have one ready for years to come. It'll be a great compliment to my OM2 outfit.
Oly Xa
It is reasonably sharp too. My quest has been a 35mm camera that is nothing but convenient and small. I've been through a lot of them, the Oly RC (all around wonderful but did not like how it handled out of focus areas), the Rollei 35 S (exceptional lens... but my depth perception is horrible so scale focus is a problem).
I've just bought another Stylus Epic, so I'll have one ready for years to come. It'll be a great compliment to my OM2 outfit.
jan normandale
Film is the other way
I know what you mean regarding the focus lever it is small due to the clamshell cover, but you get a focus. Still if it's convenience then the Stylus Epic is the way to go because unless you plan to enlarge beyond 8x10 the difference in focus capabilities shouldn't be an issue.
You're smart to buy a back up. Good things seem to be hard to find once they stop production no matter what the product!
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reiki_
Well-known
I used to have one , then I sold it , regretted it , but today I'm buying a new one. It's really a great camera.