Olympus XA vs Stylus infinity?

R

Rob

Guest
Never having shot an XA and wondering if it would be
much better than my Olympus Stylus infinity as a pocket camera?
I have seen some great shots here with the XA...
What is likely to fail on the old XA?
Rob
 
Sorry, this is not an answer to your question, others may have more experience, but my 2´s:
I have owned and used XA from 84 and it is still going strong. I once went accidentally swimming with it in my pocket (canoing), the camera maybe was in a plastic bag, not ziplock or any other locks and it got some moisture that dried at home and the camera continued working. It must be sealed quite well. Exposure has been adjusted once about 5 years ago, so maybe this deserves to be checked (my XA did underexpose). I have great respect in XA, but sure it must have its weak points, that somebody is aware of.
Cheers Esa
 
Re: Olympus XA vs Stylus infinity?

Rob said:
Never having shot an XA and wondering if it would be
much better than my Olympus Stylus infinity as a pocket camera?
I have seen some great shots here with the XA...
What is likely to fail on the old XA?
Rob
Click to expand...

The only thing I hear failing on the XA are the seals around the back... those are easy to replace though. Mine are fine on my XA, but some have this problem. The XA is a great little camera that I keep with me at all times.

http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/repairmanuals.html
 
I have owned the same XA since the 80's. It is a wonderful camera. I am just now starting to notice a little haze in the viewfinder. I have shot thousands of frames with it and have never had any problems whatsoever. I bought an Olympic Stylus for my wife several years ago and after about 2 years, the autofocus was completely off. The XA is the fastest camera I have ever used. For walking about, I load the camera with TriX, set the lens to infinity and the fstop to 8 and shoot away. Very simple and fast.
 
I've heard that the switch activated by the sliding cover can be problematic in older, more abused cameras. I would also imagine that the RF could be lots of fun to adjust if it ever gets out of whack. Mine seems to be fine in all respects though. So far it's been a great pocket camera for me, although if you attach the flash, you'll need a large pocket.
 
Never played with the stylus, but heard good things.

That said:

Olympus XA advantages:

Manual focus. Manual aperture control. It tells you the shutter speed that it's selected. Backlight exposure compensation (+1.5ev, but you can't use in conjunction with the timer).
It's little, really little - unless you've got the flash attached, in which case it's just little. Quiet. So quiet that I've taken a photo of a guy at work from 3 feet away and he didn't know, even though he was waiting for me to take it. It doesn't look like a serious camera so it's nice for surreptitious street photography.
Whilst it ain't the fastest small rf camera around, the auto shutter will stay open for a looong time if it needs too. I've taken a well exposed photo of my wife and I in a cinema during the commercials!
It's KEWL factor is way up on anything else comparable. :)
Oh, and most importantly, it's got a great lens - very sharp:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1950

Olympus XA disadvantages:
Low light focusing is a little difficult, but not too bad. Light seals tend to go bad (I've just repaired mine, and about to pick up first roll since the repair, I'll let you know). Wide open, the lens isn't quite so sharp, and tends to vignette.

It's a very, very nice camera, and a lot of fun to shoot with.

Cheers,
Steve
 
I picked one up on ebay from the original owner. Didn't need a thing, no light seals, nothing. First roll through (Fuji Previa ISO 400) surprised me with the quality of the lens and the color rendition.

Plus, as others have said, it's SMALL. Also, and again, others have said this, you can preset with ISO 400 to just a tad off infinity (from infinity to 8 feet means you move the focusing lever about 1/64th of an inch). Aperture preferred so, given any kind of reasonable light, the camera will select a shutter speed that can be hand-held.

I also learned that, due perhaps to its lightness and size, you can hand-hold some shots at 1/8th and get away with it.

This is one camera I'm not selling. I actually like it better than my T4 Super.
 
Hvaen't used an XA but the Stylus I bought when they first came out(the 3.5) was wonderful until about two years ago when it stopped rewinding after the roll was finished. by that time though, it had been used and abused by every one from me to my seven year old nephew to assorted barflies I've known over the yaers(probably the nephew was easier on it). I like the old one enough to think about buying one of the new ones(f2.8) but decided to concentrate on other cameras instead.
Rob
 
Your age can also be a factor. As your eyes age, it's harder and harder to focus cameras manually in difficult light. That's one of the reasons I let the XA go but kept the Stylus. AF is a blessing to the elderly :D

Gene
 
I'm old, wear glasses and have had an XA for nearly two decades. Its rangefinder patch is the dimmest of all my cameras.

With the exception of shooting with the aperture wide open, I usually zone focus if I'm in a hurry. With regards to exposure compensation, I generally adjust the film speed lever, as opposed to using the provided lever for backlight compensation.

All in all, its a neat little package.
 
I have both. I've actually worn out one Stylus! That's a lot of film.

My favorite feature of the Stylus is the automatic fill-flash feature. I use iso 400 film and very seldom have to use full flash. Usually just the fill.

-Paul
 
I'll put in a word for the Stylus' lowly relative the Trip 300. Auto Focus, auto flash, uses common AA batteries and cost me a whopping $3.00 new on Ebay !
So tiny it fits in any pocket, gives decent WA (35mm) shots and if I lose it, eh what the heck, it's practically disposable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom