by Karen Nakamura
The Olympus XA has been described as the camera that professional photographers carry on their vacations. The 6 element F.Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 lens is extremely sharp, especially past f/5.6 where it reaches 56lpm. Unique to carry-along point-and-shoots, the XA has a completely coupled rangefinder down to 0.9 meters as well as full aperture-priority metering. It even has a +1.5 exposure compensation for backlighting.
The design by Yoshihisa Maitani of Olympus is simply brilliant. It has a body not much larger than the Minox 35, but without the cumbersome folding lens mechanism. The electronic shutter is extremely accurate and the XA series takes LR/SR44 batteries that are still commonly available. It is truly a masterpiece design and it is difficult to believe that it was introduced in 1975, over twenty five years ago.
Even
better, you can often find these at yard sales for a song, although on eBay
they go for around $20-100, still a bargain. In Japan, I have seen XAs go
for about ¥10,000-20,000 which is about $80-180.
The XA has a line of successors, including the XA2 pictured below which loses the coupled rangefinder, aperture priority metering, and has a darker f/3.5 lens. Although some people prefer the XA2, my own taste is towards the earlier XA which has a 6 element lens, versus the 4 element lens in the XA2. There are also X3 and X4 models which are nice in their own way. However, only the original XA has a coupled-rangefinder which I think is essential for fine art photography.
The one fiddly thing about the XA series is the battery compartment. All of the ones that I've seen have a little fiddliness with the battery cover in that the connection doesn't always quite connect. Luckily the camera has an audible battery check. What I do is turn the lever to the battery check, put the batteries in and listen for the tone that indicates a connection, then put the battery cap on making sure the tone remains on. Then it's good.
The A11 flash that comes with the XA series is quite nice in that it's small and has auto-thyristor circuitry. The downside is that it only has ASA 100 & 400 and you have to set the ASA on the flash as well as on the body. The other downsides are that the single AA battery takes absolutely forever to charge the flash.
As you can see below, the XA is only slightly (3.5 mm) taller than the Minox 35GL and a little bit thicker. They are practically the same width. And when the Minox has its lens extended, the Minox is larger. Furthermore, the Minox only has scale focusing with no rangefinder! If you're rich, you might want to look into the Minolta TC-1 which features auto-exposure and auto-focus.
| Size (folded) | Weight | |
|---|---|---|
| Olympus XA | 102 W x 64.5 H x 40 D mm |
225g |
| Olympus XA2 | 200g | |
| Minox 35GL | 101 W x 61 H x 32 D mm | 200g |
| Minolta TC-1 | 99 W x 59 H x 29.5 D mm | 185g |
The XA series has an incredible fan club. The one site you must visit is:
Olympus has its manuals online in PDF format, here's a mirror copy:
Buying an XA
The XA is a weird beast. You can find them for $5 at a thrift store, but then some nuts on ebay are selling them for $150 (no bids). The general ebay rate for the XA seems to be about $20-100 depending on the condition and attachments (case, flash, manual, etc.). My own perspective is that this camera is currently undervalued, but that is because it was very popular and gazillions were made.
There are two flash versions available. I believe the XA came only with the A11 flash as a set, but you can buy the A16 flash (which is about 50% stronger) as an option and it fits, although it is a bit larger too.
| Camera
Name |
XA | XA2 |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer |
Olympus | Olympus |
| Place
of Manufacture |
Body:
Japan |
Body:
Japan |
| Date
of Manufacture |
1975-85 | 1980-86 |
| Focusing
System |
Coupled
rangefinder (~16mm baselength) |
Zone
focusing (Portraits 1.2-1.8m; Groups 1.2-6.3m; Mountains 6.3-infinity) |
| Fixed
Lens |
35mm, f/2.8, F.Zuiko lens (6 elements in 5 groups) Minimum focusing distance = 0.9 meters (~2.8 feet) Right focusing (infinity on right side) |
35mm, f/3.5, D.Zuiko lens (4 elements) Minimum focusing distance = 1.2 meters Up focusing (infinity on top of scale) |
| Shutter |
Olympus
electronic leaf shutter |
Olympus
electronic leaf shutter |
| Metering
System |
Silicon
"Around the Lens" (ATL) metering |
Silicon
"Around the Lens" (ATL) metering |
| Apertures |
f/2.8-f/22 (1 step stops) |
Full program metering |
| Flash |
External
dedicated A11 flash |
External
dedicated A11 flash |
| Film
type / speeds |
Type
135 (35mm standard) film |
Type
135 (35mm standard) film |
| Battery
type |
2x
LR44/SR44 Silver Oxide Cells |
2x
LR44/SR44 Silver Oxide Cells |
| Dimensions
and weight |
102x64.5x40mm 225g |
102x64.5x40mm 200g |
| Retail
price |
¥35,800 (1975) | ¥27,800 |
| Copyright © 2005 Karen Nakamura / Photoethnography.com. Use of this chart, text, or any photographs in an eBay auction without permission will result in an immediate IP violation claim with eBay VeRO. Violators may have their eBay account cancelled. | ||
Although people think that Olympus must be a recent company, it actually has very old roots. It was founded in 1919 as "Takachiho Seisakusho" as a manufacturer of optical goods, with its first product being a microscope. In 1921, they released their first "Olympus" brand product. Their first camera came out in 1936, the Semi-Olympus with 75mm f/4.5 Zuiko lens. In 1949, the company changed their name to "Olympus Optical Co." after their main brand. One of their designers Yoshihisa Maitani, is famed for some classic designs:
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