Olympus XA does not want to focus.

MIkhail

MIkhail

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Nov 7, 2005
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Hello,
I just bought this little camera from the guy on E-bay. Did not pay much, $40. But still.
I just tried to use it for the first time, and discovered that image in central rectangule does not come together, no matter how I turn the lever right or left.
Now what?
Is it just image in vewfinder or lenses do not focus?
Is it repairable or should I tri to get my money back from the guy?
I really like the camera overall and it whould be a shame to throw it away if I can fix it. Any good manual online or such? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks a lot.
Mikhail.
 
I think it should be visible whether the lens moves or not. Just watch it closely when you focus. If I were you I would ask my money back. 40 dollars is too much for a broken XA.
 
I am looking inside now and I see the movement (front element does not move, but elements inside do). What does it mean to me then?
 
Trius said:
The XA focuses by moving an interior floating element; that is one reason it is so compact even though it is a 6-element lens. Sounds like the rangefinder needs to be adjusted. The repair manual can be downloaded at http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/repairmanuals.html.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I have looked thru the repair manual, quite cumbersome. Iwonder if anybody repairs this cameras any more. I would like to do meter calibration and all the other good stuff too...
 
In the US and Canada there are people who will work on them, but it typically costs about $75USD (plus shipping) from top-notch repair people. Given your original purchase price, it starts to add up. An excellent, functioning XA at auction will cost about $65-90, depending on how active bidding is.

If your auction description stated the camera was functioning properly, you might be able to negotiate a partial refund. If it was an as-is sale, then I would either pay for the repair or re-sell it as a parts camera and take the loss.

Both of these guys are in the US, but are the most competent repairmen for Olympus that I know of:

www.zuiko.com
www.olyfix.com

Also I have heard good things about Essex Camera Services (essexcamera.com) ... I haven't used them, but lots of RFF members have been satisfied customers.
 
Thank you again for quick responce. The camera was "as-is", but I already comunicated with the seller and expalined to him that I dont know how can anybody consider this camera "functional" at all if it does not focus and he should have said "non functional, for parts". He told me that I dont know nothing about focusing but agreed to issue a refund. So we left it at that.
BTW, this is how I normally focus with my other 6 cameras :))
http://public.fotki.com/Mikesht/portfolio-1/

Once again, thank you a million.
Maybe you can suggest a place to buy this camera to make sure it is functional (other than E-bay)?
Regards
Mikhail
 
The best place to buy is right here on RFF. An XA comes up occasionally. I have a good one that I'm NOT selling! ... plus one that is not working (shutter won't trip), but does focus properly. I knew that when buying it, and someday I'll have it fixed. Gotta have on for b&w and one for colour ... or one for fast b&w and one for slow b&w ... or one for slow colour and one for fast colour ... or one for chrome and one for C41 ... Sheesh, looks like a need a bunch more. :bang:

Edit: Oh, and then there's the XA-4 I don't have yet. :(

As for focusing .... yeah, you got that part down. Very nice work, mate.
 
Mikhail: Looks like you are in Toronto. You definitely need to join us in the next Toronto/GTA meet.
 
Thank you.
No, I am not in Toronto, I am in Detroit.... Not that far from Toronto, which expalins pictures from there.
I will look around on RFF.
What about XA-4? Is it a "must have"? I thought I would get by with XA as a pocket everyday camera (as an addition to 2 cameras I have in the car- always) :-0))
 
I have XAs, andan XA1, XA2s, an XA3 and an XA4. The 1 is the most primitive and is strictly to say I have one of each. The XA4 gives up a rangefinder for a 28mm f3.5 lens instead of the XA's 35mm f2.8 lens. So the XA4 lens is wider, but half a stop slower. In reality, I don't find the slightly slowere lens to be a material factor. Sometimes the wider lens is useful. The other factor is that the XA4 allows focussing to 12 inches or so, which is considerably closer than any of the other XAs. Finally, the 4 and the 3 read the DX coding on a 35mm cartridge. This too, to me, is immaterial and sometimes a bit of a nuisance when I bulk load my cartridges which are recycled from my local Long's Drug Store in store processing service.

I don't know that that the XA4 is a "must have." It is harder to find and more expensive than an XA, and I find that my most common user in the family is either the XA or an XA2.

I hope this helps.

Dave
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You might enjoy http://www.diaxa.com/ for a rundown on XAs. A Japanese friend of mine told me about a year ago that XA4s were going for $400 there!! I'd luv to have one, but they are rare and overpriced.
 
My desire for the XA-4 is both for the wider lens and the close-focus distance. I often find the ~1 meter closest distance of the XA to be limiting. As for DX coding, I would simply work around that if need be. For example, I typically under-rate chrome film by 1/3 stop or so, so in a DX cassette I'd need to override that.

Mikhail: Drive on down the 401 and join us! There's a Toronto area forum here where we plan meetings.
 
If you like to travel light, the XA4 is the camera to have -- after the original XA of course. It's a pity Lomomaniacs and other junk cameras adepts have driven the prices up recently.

The lens is great, even better than the XA's. The lack of a rangefinder is not a big deal with a 28mm lens. The XA4 offers the ability to read DX coding and accommodates films up to ISO 1600 (800 on the XA). The so-called macro feature is only close focusing to 0.3m (1 foot).

If you plan to buy one, just make sure you get the original strap, which doubles as a tape measure for close-ups.

Here are some pictures of my XA4:

_IGP1265.JPG


_IGP1266.JPG


Cheers,

Abbazz
 
Abbazz: Nice! I had forgotten that the XA4 lens is actually better than the XA; another reason to have it. I didn't know, though, about the 1600 ISO capability. Now THAT is another big advantage.
 
Oh, and I just noticed the flash actuation lever. I had never seen that, either. Damn, now I've got GAS.
 
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