Olympus XA flash sync

[nikku]

Hey guys, I'm new here but I've been lurking for a little while. I've just started getting back into film photography, and have pulled out my trusty XA and have been playing around with it. Everything functions perfectly on it--film advance, meter, shutter, etc. Everything except that I can't push the apeture dial up to "flash" above f/2.8 so that it will sync with a dedicated flash. I don't want to force it because I don't want to break anything. I never noticed this before because I've never used a flash on the XA.
Anyone else had similar problems, and does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix it? Hopefully it's a simple solution.

 

[zuikologist]

Is the dedicated flash attached? I think the camera does not function in the flash position unless the flash is attached.

 

[nikku]

Is the dedicated flash attached? I think the camera does not function in the flash position unless the flash is attached.

Yeah, I connected it. At least I thought I did. I might have to try again and make sure the pins are fully inserted.

 

[ZeMane]

Hi Nikku! I've got exactly the same problem on my beloved XA. Some time ago I looked for a solution to fix this problem, but could not get much info though. Seems that it would be necessary to open the camera and do not consider myself "brave" enough to do so. Besides, due to the small camera size, any attempt to "do it yourself" repair could leave the camera inoperative.

I don't really use too much the flash unit, but on the very few times I did, the one solution I found was this (sorry for my poor english): when you push the aperture dial above 2.8 the camera ejects a "pin" that inserts on the flash unit raising the "ready" lamp on it. Since you are unable to do this, what I've done is to manually activate the flash, using a pen's point or a metal clip. Afterwards, attach the flash to the camera as usual and... estimate the right exposure.
According to what I've read, the camera sets automatically to 1/30 f4 when on the flash setting. I can not remember which settings I used, but it is a matter of experimenting with the camera/flash combo. All I can say is that the last time I used the flash, there was Fuji ASA100 film loadaed and 95% of the exposures where correct (to my surprise!!!).

These sites could provide some helpfull info:
The Olympus XA camera

Olympus XA at URBAN75 site. Includes the XA Test report published on Modern Photography, November 1979 (info about the flash use near the end of the page)

The Olympus XA Forum

Enjoy that lovely and trusty camera!!!

Best regards,

Zé

 

[nikku]

Ze, thanks for the info, I'll try that and see what happens. I don't use flash much either, but I'm just curious as to how the shots would turn out if I did. I've used the canonlite d flash for my canonet on occasion, and with surprisingly good results. Just wondering if my little dedicated flash for the xa will give similar results.