The Olympus XA is a 35mm camera and the start of the XA series. It was built from 1978 to 1985 and was one of the smallest rangefinder cameras during its "lifetime".
What made the 35mm camera special was that despite its size (102×64.5×40 mm), it could keep up with the big SLRs in terms of quality. One reason for this is the F-Zuiko 35 mm f/2.8 lens. This consists of 6 elements, allows low-light shooting due to the large aperture, and delivers very sharp images.
Furthermore, the Olympus XA could impress with a built-in rangefinder. The closest focusing distance is 85 cm.
The camera also has a light meter, but the camera does not set the exposure completely by itself, but leaves the choice of aperture (aperture priority) to the photographer. This is set with a slider on the front (f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, f/22) and the camera immediately displays the appropriate exposure time in the viewfinder and selects it accordingly when shooting.
The sensitivity of the film has to be set by the user. You can choose between ISO 25 and ISO 800, and with the backlight switch (+1.5) on the bottom, you can influence the exposure a bit.
These are just a few reasons why the camera, which weighs about 200 grams, is still very popular today. Among other things, street photographers appreciate its compactness, the quiet shutter noise and the fact that you can preset the distance in the zone focus.
The Olympus XA also has a thread for a tripod and a self-timer. There is also a port for a flash, but only for the XA series flashes (including the A11 and A16) and not a hot shoe or PC sync socket.
Power for the camera comes from two LR/SR44 cells (eBay / Amazon*). The Olympus XA is loaded with normal 35mm film (eBay / Amazon*), which is still available today. Film is advanced with a thumbwheel and not automatically.
After shooting, a cover is slid in front of the camera, so it is protected and also turns off directly in the process. By the way, Yoshihisa Maitani is responsible for the design of the Olympus XA.
More versions
After the Olympus XA, other models followed, although some of them were somewhat trimmed from the range of functions, so there is no rangefinder on any of them.
- Olympus XA1 (simple camera with selenium light meter)
- Olympus XA2 (automatic exposure with a 35mm f/3.5 lens and zone focus)
- Olympus XA3 (Basically the Olympus XA2 with film speed detection using DX encoding)
- Olympus XA4 (zone focus camera with 28mm macro lens)
So should you now want to buy an Olympus XA is caution, not that the bargain later turns out to be one of the successors.
Sample photos
The sample pictures was taken with the Efke 25. It was developed in Rodinal.
