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frame lines to vanish, offering
little confidence as to what the
final image will include.
Likewise, this is not the camera
for beautiful bokeh-rich portraits
or that wide open look with
narrow depth of field. The XA will
give a bit more control in this
regard with its ability to select the
aperture and focus accurately.
Reliability
Both the image quality and build
of the XA series has stood the
test of time and my experience
with these cameras has proven
them to be robust and reliable,
particularly considering they will
not work without a battery.
My first XA did suffer from a
dead meter which would default
to the slowest shutter speed of
two seconds. This is a known
issue across the series and
something to look out for when
buying them. Aside from this, like
most cameras that date back to
the late 1970s and early 1980s
their only other common blight is
light seal foam deterioration or
possible lens fungus.
In terms of availability, the XA2
is the most common out of those
I’ve discussed here, which is
unsurprising given that they were
mass-produced between 1980
and 1986. Both the XA2 and XA3
can be picked up in the region of
£50 to £60, while the XA can
command over double that, given
its cult status and extra features.
Most of the cameras are black
but Olympus did release some
red and blue XA2s and XA3s
which you can occasionally find,
as well as even rarer white and
pink ones. These normally
command an additional premium.Final thoughts
The old adage of the best camera
being the one you have with you
always resonates more when that
camera is capable of excellent
images. In that respect, the
Olympus XA range of 35mm film
cameras tick the boxes of
ultimate compactness, accurate
meters and superb lenses.
They are perfect for travel or
street shooters who want a
compact film camera in their
pocket at all times and they are
small and robust enough for
anyone who just wants an
‘every-day’ walkabout camera.
While the XA stands out for its
features and there is little to
differentiate the XA2 and XA3,
you really can’t go wrong with any
of them with the XA3 just
edging it for me.Above: Abu Dhabi, UAE. Another
example of the fantastic metering
even in low light
Olympus XA3 & ILFORD FP4+ 125 – tripod mountedBelow: Krabi, Thailand. The
short lens design can create a
pronounced vignette
Olympus XA3 & Agfa Vista 2 00