Recent XA2 Photos

[cjm]

Fuji Superia 100:

Fuji Sensia 100:

This one's a little grainy because the ISO was accidentally set to 800. I like it anyway.

 

[Spyderman]

Very nice... especially for such a small camera

What do the slides look like to your eyes (regarding exposure) ? Did you use some exposure compensation ?

I have yet to try my XA with positive film... but I'm already looking forward to it

 

[cjm]

Thanks guys.

I didn't use any exposure compensation, although in the future I may set the ISO one notch higher than the actual film speed. My pictures using slide film in bright daylight tend to be slightly over exposed.

 

[Stanton]

I have both the XA and the XA2, and an XA1 and 3 and 4) -- and I generally carry the XA2 over the XA and the others. Until you have seen shots like yours, it is difficult to understand how good that camera can be with its automatic exposure and zone focusing.

You made it quite clear.

Dave

 

[btgc]

I have seen pics from XA and XA2, and thought that crispness as on two last pics comes only from XA. Seems I should sooner replace light seals on my XA2 and shoot away

 

[benedictjames]

Thanks cjm, I'm going off to buy an XA2 now, thanks (to add to my Trip 35)!
BTW, that seascape shot with the blurred bird in flight is beautiful. Can't see any barrel distortion on the horizon line either, which is also the case with my Trip 35 for those type of shots. If that little XA2 shoots as good as what I see here, that's enough for me (wish me luck in my quest for a good sample!) ...

 

[vrgard]

I have a question about the XA-2 that, hopefully, someone here can answer. I know it has 3 zone-focusing settings. But what I'm not as clear on is what aperture/shutter speed bias does it have for each of those settings. I mean, I understand that the aperture & shutter speed depends upon the film speed setting. But assuming I put 200 ASA film in the camera (and set the camera to same, of course), what settings are likely to be used for each of the three zone settings? While dependent upon available light, of course, I don't know whether the camera automatically picks an aperture and then adjusts the shutter speed to fit the available light or automatically picks a shutter speed and then adjusts the aperture to fit the available light. And I understand that the former scenario would be "aperture priority" while the latter scenario would be "shutter priority" but I still can't figure out what the camera is most likely to do. I'm assuming that if I set the zone focusing to "distant" then it's more likely to pick a smaller aperture to maximize depth of field. And if that's true, then I would assume that if I set the zone focusing to "near" then it's more likely to pick a wider aperture yet that would give narrower depth of field which may or may not be what I want. But that's all assumptions on my part. So, can someone tell me exactly what the XA-2 is doing based on the 3 zone focusing settings? Sorry if this makes no sense (and I've clearly shown my own ignorance here) and thanks in advance for your patience in reading all this!

-Randy

 

[mfunnell]

If that little XA2 shoots as good as what I see here, that's enough for me (wish me luck in my quest for a good sample!) ...

But have you asked yourself the most important question: what colour should you get?
(Mine's a red one so it probably needs fast film.)

...Mike

 

[vrgard]

AFAIK the focus setting has no effect on the programmed autoexposure.

Chris

Thanks, Chris. Perhaps I was assuming (way) too much. So, if that's correct, then does anyone know anything more about typical automatic shutter and aperture settings for this camera?

-Randy

 

[mfunnell]

The XA2 manual has nothing to say on the matter, but the manual for my mju-II (aka Stylus Epic) has a table showing it is biased towards wider apertures and higher shutter speeds, stopping down when the EV exceeds its shutter speed range. As these cameras are "sort of descendants" of the XA range I'd guess their programmed autoexposure approach is similar. I doubt that focus distance is a factor in exposure setting.

The two things I really wish the XA2 had are a REALLY OBVIOUS in-viewfinder indication of the focus distance set (something I perennially forget) and the +1.5EV exposure compensation switch that the XA has (since futzing with the ISO lever is not something to be done swiftly). That having been said, I've got some shots I really like with the XA2, including using the lack of backlight compensation:



...Mike

 

[vrgard]

Thanks, Mike, for those further thoughts. The thing that confuses me about that is, if it's true that the bias is towards wider aperture then that necessarily reduces depth of field which means the likelihood of getting what you want in focus is thereby reduced. For that reason I would have assumed that the bias was instead towards smaller aperture until some minimum shutter speed was reached and then start opening up the aperture as needed to get it back into the available/acceptable range. Any further thoughts?

-Randy

P.S. Nice shot, Mike.

 

[mfunnell]

For that reason I would have assumed that the bias was instead towards smaller aperture until some minimum shutter speed was reached and then start opening up the aperture as needed to get it back into the available/acceptable range. Any further thoughts?

-Randy

P.S. Nice shot, Mike.

No further thoughts really - just the way they've biased the mju-II - but perhaps they did that differently because its autofocus? I might have to run some tests (I've got some cheap expired film around somewhere) just to see how it reacts.

And thanks for the kind word on the photo.

...Mike

 

[benedictjames]

I concur with vrgard on the focus thing. I don't have an XA2 (yet!), but my Trip 35 actually has 4 (not 3) zone settings for 1m, 1.5m, 3m and infinity. I think it's the 1m setting that's 'missing' on the XA2, so the XA2 is not really designed for close shots, where depth of field is more critical to get you a sharp shot. I've noticed that the Trip 35 avoids wider apertures, and only 'chooses' it's higher of the two shutter speeds on that camera (1/200th, the other is 1/40th sec) in REALLY bright light (presumably 1/40th sec. is chosen more often to avoid a wider aperture?). Maybe the XA2 is similar since it's from the same 'stable'? Can't wait to get my XA2 now, so I can compare lenses too - besides the obvious 5mm difference in FL compared to the Trip 35.

 

[btgc]

Thanks to cjm, this morning I installed new light sealing into not-yet-used XA2, just have to wait while glue evaporates and put back lens rear element, which I removed to extract piece of guano, dribbling there.

 

[jan normandale]

awwww... now everyone is going to buy one of these.... darn. ;- )

Heres what they do at 3.00 am for a slag dump taken at about 300 metres from the smelter....

 

[raid]

For a $25 camera, the XA2 is unbetable.