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experienced zone focusing before
so I missed the ability to focus
accurately on my subjects,
particularly for portraits. However,
I was very impressed, and
admittedly surprised, with the
results this small camera
produced, thanks to its
wonderfully accurate centre-
weighted meter and sharp lens.
I persevered and have since
put over 70 films through the XA3
covering a large variety of colour
and black & white stocks. In the
process, I’ve been converted to a
fully-fledged member of this
camera’s fan club. I had become
the embodiment of Maitani’s
vision; his diminutive yet quality
‘pocket’ camera meant I was
taking it everywhere and as a
result, shooting more and more.
Overseas and much closer to
home, on walks or bike rides with
the family, this is the one camera
guaranteed to accompany me
whenever I leave the house. On
longer trips it is usually joined by
either a 35mm SLR or medium
format TLR (and as a travel
photographer I will have my digital
camera too). Yet its form factor
and results ensure I return to it
time after time. So much so that
it has seen many other cameras
come and go from my collection
and has largely reduced the
mighty XA to living on the shelf.Features
When exploring the feature set of
the XA3 it is worth highlighting
some of the key similarities and
differences versus both the XA
and XA2. Getting the most
obvious one out of the way first,
it is important to note that the
XA2 and XA3 are fundamentally
nothing more than zone-focused
point-and-shoot cameras. They
offer very little in terms of
functionality versus the aperture
priority, rangefinder-focused XA
and for many photographers they
would be unfairly discounted
purely because of this.
At their core both the XA2 and
XA3 are uncomplicated andaffordable cameras packing an
excellent lens into ultra-compact
bodies that weigh just 200g and
220g respectively.
They share a 4-element D.Zuiko
35mm f/3.5 lens, so on paper a
step down from the 6-element
f/2.8 lens of the XA; yet it offers
no discernible difference in image
quality. The lenses all utilise
Maitani’s ingenious internal
focusing design that allows the
front element to sit just 31mm
from the film plane and avoid the
need for it to protract or retract
from the camera, a critical and at
the time ground-breaking feature
that enabled the small form
factor to be achieved.