Olympus XA for one dollar!

[68degrees]

On my way back from the post office, spotted several garage sales. First one had nothing, second one I asked if she had any cameras. She said she had a little one and went and dug it out of a box of junk. It was in a vinyl pouch may have been a electric razor pouch I dont know so I opened it not expecting much and lo and behold it was an Olympus XA with flash attached. She said she didnt know if it worked and asked 1 dollar for it which I promptly retrieved from my front trouser pocket. Took it home put batteries, cleaned all the dirt and dust off it. Everything perfect, lens stellar spotless mint, meter perfect dead on balls accurate. Included manual. Ive been looking for a long time for one of these and Im looking forward to seeing how it compares to the Rollei 35 zeiss. So, it pays to go to garage sales go out there and forget the expensive auction sites its yours for the asking basically free mint Olympus XA. What are you looking for?

 

[zsas]

Wooooohoooooooo! Good things come to those that wait! Congrats!!!

 

[Monz]

Damn good deal on a great camera. Enjoy!

 

[Ken Ford]

Lucky find! My bride gave me my XA as a wedding gift in 1986, so it even has sentimental value besides being a great little camera.

 

[kuzano]

Well from my experience...

Well from my experience...

If it's all working as it was designed to do... It will KA on the Rollei. And so much more pocketable with the sliding protection over the lens.

One thing most don't pick up on. The clamshell should click slightly into place when full open. There will be a flag in the rangefinder window if not full open. It's so easy for the door to slide just a wee bit off the full open position and not fire. This one sounds rarely used, so should have a positive open feel when the clamshell is wide open.

Have fun. 😀

 

[ZeissFan]

Excellent deal. Make sure that you change those foam seals.

 

[FrankS]

My last XA was $5. I find the Zeiss Rollei (35T, 35S) to KO the Oly. But at this age, a lot depends on their past history and current condition.

 

[Godfrey]

My last XA was $5. I find the Zeiss Rollei (35T, 35S) to KO the Oly. But at this age, a lot depends on their past history and current condition.

That's what I always found too. I had three XAs, they were cool, but they all broke down (transport problems) and weren't worth fixing. That's when I got my first Minox 35EL and Rollei 35 (Tessar f/3.5 lens). I bought the black Rollei 35S that I still have a couple of years later, and a Minox 35GT-E in the 1990s. The Minox 35 and Rollei 35 generally have less problems with flare than the XA.

But heck, the Olympus XA is a good camera anyway, and you got it for a steal of a price. Enjoy it! 🙂

G

 

[genez]

Wow, I'm still hunting for an XA, and you've got yourself a great deal there. $1!!
Pity Garage sales aren't a practise over in this part of the world though.

 

[68degrees]

If it's all working as it was designed to do... It will KA on the Rollei. And so much more pocketable with the sliding protection over the lens.

One thing most don't pick up on. The clamshell should click slightly into place when full open. There will be a flag in the rangefinder window if not full open. It's so easy for the door to slide just a wee bit off the full open position and not fire. This one sounds rarely used, so should have a positive open feel when the clamshell is wide open.

Have fun. 😀

It definitely clicks into place. Even the foam seals look factory and new. I have not touched them to see if they are brittle or what. If I have light leaks I will replace them but I dont expect problems that door fits just right. There was even film in it. Kodak 200. I rewound and will add it to my next batch and see whats on it..

There is one imperfection I noticed, the frame counter arrow moves around. The arrow is on a little plastic disc and its supposed to be fixed in place but it rotates. The counter itself works perfect. Im not sure what the deal is, I hate to take the top off and take a chance of ruining something just to fix that. It doesnt bother me(ok it bothers me a little) but its not a problem, its easy enough to align it when i want to check the frame count.

I have a few more cameras on my list. Normally I stop at garage sales on my way back from somewhere else, I dont do dedicated garage sale runs but I think Im going to go dedicated next weekend and see what I can find, its definitely garage sale season here in Florida. Tampa area. Id love to find grandpas mint medalist, and a rollei 35 german tessar, thats about all thats left on my list. I guess I dont need the Epic anymore since the XA smokes the RC which smokes the Epic. Nice.

 

[John Bragg]

[/QUOTE] I guess I dont need the Epic anymore since the XA smokes the RC which smokes the Epic. Nice.[/QUOTE]

I would keep the epic as well. The two cameras complement each other as both have strengths. XA has nostalgia in buckets and precision focussing, whilst Epic has spot metering and a great lens as well as being weatherproofed. I now own 3 Epics, a Stylus infinity and an XA3 that cost me 99p !. It has just had its seals done by me before use although they also looked ok. Good luck with the XA and well done for finding it !

 

[zuikologist]

I would keep the RC also 🙂

 

[lynnb]

Great find, I got mine from a charity store for $5, it's been in constant use the past 2 years. An XA with a roll of HP5+ is happiness 🙂

 

[lxmike]

Its great to hear that people are still grabbing bargains out there, well done indeed

 

[Bingley]

Congrats on the great find. These are great little cameras.

 

[oftheherd]

Great find of a great little camera. I often take mine when I want a camera handy but don't want to lug something bigger. I don't have mine in front of me so I can't recall exactly what you are talking about with the frame counter. If it isn't causing any problems I would probably let it go. I really don't know how to get into the top. It's probably not to hard, but I haven't done it.

The problem mentioned by Kuzano, if it becomes a problem, is relatively easy to fix. Carefully remove the clamshell door, and replace the the rod or whatever is there. It fits inside a small recess that has a metal spring device under it. Do be careful not to lose the previous one, so you can determine the correct replacement. Then carefully replace the clamshell. The rod must be of the correct diameter and length, and be filed smooth on the ends where it has been cut to the correct length. A machine shop can help.

Without the clamshell being held open, you can also lose sight of the RF patch and as mentioned, the shutter won't fire. Again, as mentioned, it doesn't sound like that will be a problem with yours. Congrats for a good find. I think you may be surprised how often you grab for it and the results you get.

 

[pschauss]

I bought my XA new in 1983 because I wanted a pocketable camera for a trip to London with the children (aged 4 and 6). I has survived use by my daughter on a fifth grade field trip to Washington, DC, being "borrowed" by one of her classmates, and backpacking in Alaska with my son. I had it serviced once early in its life after I dropped it. The repair man said that he could not fix it but I discovered later that it still worked. It still works and still takes great pictures.

 

[Lobo]

Great find! I have bought a XA at a Fleamarkt in a small German town for 7euros, without to know if its working but in good cosmetic condition and with flash. Days later i bought SR44 Batteries at a hight price, just to notice, that the XA doesnt work with them.No Filmadvance.
Months Later, at another Fleamarkt, i found a very abused one. Gladly i had my Revue 35cc with me, and its 2 SR44 Batteries. So i have checked the XA and it worked. For 5euro i took it home!