Weirdness with my XA...

[Buttershug]

Hi there all,

I bought an Oly XA a couple of weeks ago - great condition, really nice with an A16 flash etc.

The meter seems to be 1 1/2 to 2 stops off. How do I know? Well, outside on a bright, sunny day (I live in Qld. Australia - sometimes we wear welding goggles for sunglasses - it's bright) set to 100 ISO and f16 - the cam wants to shoot at between 1/30 and 1/60. Okay, so the meter's off, right?

But here's the thing - I've run 2 or 3 films through this little camera and the exposure seems to be pretty smack on. If the meter is 2 stops off, which it seems to be - shouldn't most of the images be 2 stops over-exposed?? Well, they're not. in fact I've yet to hit a really under or over exposed shot out of the 75 that have gone through. Even flash shots seem to be okay.

So what's happening here? And more to the point, what's the solution if any?

The issue I have is that at the moment, available light hand held shots (for which i bought it in the first place - unobtrusive street shooter and all that) are near impossible; instead of 1/125th or 1/60th in broad daylight, the cam wants to shoot at 1/30th or 1/15 (or1/8!) - and I'm finding getting clean images hand-holding at 1/8th a bit of a challenge... 😡

Anyone any ideas?

thanks,

David.

 

[laptoprob]

David, were you shooting on negative film or slide film? Print film allows for a lot of overexposure. My XA indicates a similar amount of overexposure. First negative film still in the camera.
Put the ISO/ASA setting on 200 or 400 when using a 100 film, that fools the meter. This only is part of the solution because 800 is the max...

Rob.

 

[jonasv]

You pretty much nailed the answer yourself - the meter indicates a 1,5/2-stop overexposure, but actually exposes correctly.

If it should be 1/15th and the meter indicates 1/4th, just listen closely and you'll hear the shutter clicks right after each other - voila - 1/15th. That's why the negatives don't come out overexposed - it's only the needle which is off, not the exposure calculation.

My XA does exactly the same, I was very dissappointed when I first got it, but I stopped caring when I saw the negs came out fine. It's a great camera.


ps. don't do what Rob says, as it's only the meter needle - by adjusting the ISO dial you'll get correct needle indications but incorrect exposures.

 

[Trius]

jvx got it ... I believe I've heard of this problem before. It means you need a CLA; it's a PITA to not know at what speed you're shooting. Handholding down to 1/4sec is possible with the XA, but you need to be a Zen breath master.

 

[filmgoerjuan]

From the XA resource page : Metering system uses two CdS cells. Unmasked cell actually sets exposure; second cell behind diminishing series of fixed openings controls finder shutter speed needle setting.

I've heard of this issue before. Sounds like the meter for the display has gotten out of whack. Fortunately for you the meter that does the actual exposure settings is working correctly.

 

[Buttershug]

Thanks everybody for the replies, I do feel a lttle less totured now.

I appreciate all the feedback. I think I'll book that CLA just for peace of mind. in the mean time I'll keep shooting and work on my Zen-breathing technique.

Thanks again!

David.

 

[laptoprob]

Sorry for my wrong advice... I am new to the XA myself. Does this mean the indicated speed in the finder may be very different to the real shutter speed?

Wow.