Ode to the Olympus XA

NickTrop

NickTrop

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I'm posting this today to say,
I'm totally blown away,
By my newly acquired,
Olympus XA

Up there with Einstein, and Bohr,
Newton, Hawkings, Tessla, and Planck,
There is one more genius we all ought to thank,
Whose brilliance far ahead of these rank...

Yoshihisa Maitani san,
You da man!
If you were here today,
I'd shake your han...

Though there are a few,
Who the XA eshew,
I really have to ask,
whatsamattah for you?

The focus is futzy?
Are you really that nutsy?
Just take a stroll,
You'll get used to it all,
Before you finish a roll...


It ain't the rangefinder that's dim...
I say it's him,
Who can't appreciate,
A camera this great.
(Or don't know to color over the patch...
To improve contrast so the images match.)


No, "great" is an understatement,
And to buy one you don't need a downpayment,
Or sell your first born, or your house, or your car,
Or to order from some land afar...

They're readily available,
Picture quality is unassailable,
From a cracking 6/6 Zuiko 35, 2.8
The output of which is nothing short of great,
Protected these years from a design that is swell,
Hidden behind a protective clamshell...


So, you claim to shoot street?
All things condidered this gem just can't be beat.
It's an aperture priority rangefinder that slips in your pocket, Jesus Petes!
You don't need more than that to take pics in the streets!

In fact, it's better for this purpose - by far,
Than any camera ever made - even those by,
(Dare I say it?)
Vivitar!
So, just take some Beano if you've got GAS,
And log off of eBay, I swear it will pass,

You're a photog, so you of course have a head like a rock,
But to take great street pics you needn't go into hock...
You control focus, so no "focus lock"...
Forgive me if I shake my head and do mock,

You know me well enough to know I can't resist,
Even though RFF members are sure to get pissed,
That "cost a fortune" camera is more a symbol of wealth,
Though it looks oh so purdy sitting next to your teeth on the shelf...

What more can I say?
You only need one stinkin' camera,
That's an Olympus XA.
 
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NickTrop said:
Thank you, bgb...
That's what happens when I have a giant cup of coffee and am sitting in front of a computer with nothing to do... ;)
Click to expand...

The XA worth your giant cup of coffee!

Should we post pictures taken by our XA? I'm in love with this tiny gem! Whole lot of goodness in a bite size cuteness :p
 
On my last trip I took several cameras and lenses including Leica, Nikon, Hasselblad and Voigtländer. 17 out of the 20 rolls I shot were done with the XA. Why? Yet I'm asking myself why...

A camera for photographers, even if that can apparently sound silly. Maitani put on it his lifetime experience, including the previous design of the OM system.

All my life I'll have an XA in my pocket. The day I got it, to know if it was working, I burnt a roll of Astia at ISO100 and f/8 in two minutes next to a place that was about to develop it... As I was going to throw the roll in a trash can as soon as I had looked at it, I asked them to give it to me when it was wet yet... When I checked it, I just couldn't believe it! Oh my, I wish things that great were more frequent in life.

Cheers,

Juan
 
Juan Valdenebro said:
On my last trip I took several cameras and lenses including Leica, Nikon, Hasselblad and Voigtländer. 17 out of the 20 rolls I shot were done with the XA. Why? Yet I'm asking myself why...

A camera for photographers, even if that can apparently sound silly. Maitani put on it his lifetime experience, including the previous design of the OM system.

All my life I'll have an XA in my pocket. The day I got it, to know if it was working, I burnt a roll of Astia at ISO100 and f/8 in two minutes next to a place that was about to develop it... As I was going to throw the roll in a trash can as soon as I had looked at it, I asked them to give it to me when it was wet yet... When I checked it, I just couldn't believe it! Oh my, I wish things that great were more frequent in life.

Cheers,

Juan
Click to expand...

Juan - I can totally see why you would shoot with this over the "big guns". And, I can also see why you would always have one in your pocket. I see myself doing the same! And - like you, I burned a roll just "to see". And while more than 1/2 are going in the trash because they're just test shots of stupid stuff... Like you, I'm blown away. This thing is capable of some serious output. I'm shocked.

I was always curious about this camera but put off getting one because reading through threads it seems users are either blown away or you don't get on with it. Put me in the "blown away" camp.
 
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Nick ... your ode to the XA rocks
and Maitani has learned of the knocks
from the mob in their sandles and socks
who like Nikons ... he thinks they're just jocks.

:D
 
I have a massive soft spot for the XA - one of the best compact cameras ever made IMO! I still have one in as new condition (but jammed) in the original box with the original packaging and documentation, with the original japanese price tags etc. The VF patch isn't at all faded in this one either - it's almost as bright as a bessa! I plan to get it serviced by John @ zuiko.com sometime...

This picture in my mostly unused flickr stream has something like 2500 views - shot at 2.8-4 on another XA

1177402171_629340fd85_z.jpg
 
@ Keith - hilarious, keep it going!
@ fdigital - great pic, geez why is it that pics of cute young girls showin' a little leg always seem to get the most hits? Hmmmmmmmm :) - Not that I ever look at those... As for that XA... Get that thing fixed! Today! :)

Mostly I shot silly stuff just to finish out the roll but here are some semi-presentable samples.

Edit: all crappy drug store scans. First straight from camera. Third (forgot) PS'd to add a little color. No noise reduction, no sharpening. The second is a good example of the XA in action in moderate lighting. 2.8, guessing 1/30th? Maybe lower... Using 400 speed b/w CN.
 

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Well, I've got three of them! First one shortly after they came out as a gift to my wife. Second one with inoperative range finder, cheap, and third one as a parts camera. Interestingly, they're all different. Later two have a different body casting, film advance wheel and rewind knob, and one has a metric focusing scale. Also have two A11 flashes. Would you believe the range of coverage is also different on each one? Seems like whenever I have two or more of the same thing, there are always minor differences. Is it like that for anyone else???
 
Spaviaw - that's weird... But I think if you inspected m/any of the longer production run cameras you're apt to find differences. Maybe the A11 differences have more to do with age? I don't have a flash for this camera yet. Not missing it really, and not sure if I'll pick one up. They're pretty common and fairly inexpensive, so I'll likely get one just "to have".
 
Greyscale said:
I like the XA, its hard to take a bad exposure with them.

Click to expand...


Beautiful shot!

Then you see all of us having used pro digital cameras, do lots of things with software and with a camera that costs 100 times what an XA does and is the newest technology three decades after, and we just can't do it better...

Cheers,

Juan
 
Greyscale - showing off the metering capability with the snow? That would drive a lot of meters crazy. Great pics! Like, look at those pics - perfectly exposed, sharp as a tac. What more do you want out of a camera? All that - total control, shutter speed info in the vf... and it slips into your pocket.
 
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