Olympus XA-2
It’s time once again for #Camerathursdays. Every week a new camera and the Blurb employee who uses it. So far we’ve shown range finders, DSLRs, mobile phones, box cameras, mirrorless compacts, SLRs, and instant cameras. But we’re pretty sure this is the first time we’ve brought out an analog point-and-shoot.
Camera: Olympus XA-2
Employee: Kent
Job: Writer, Tweeter, Instagramer
“This was a birthday gift from a friend, and one of the best gifts one could get. The Olympus XA-2 is a classic point-and-shoot (and probably the blueprint for all point-and-shoots in the world today). Sharp lens, great build-quality, and simple zone-focusing. And magic. There’s something about this little camera. I usually use 400 film with it and get great results – I particularly like how it captures clouds and building textures. The zone focusing lets me work roughly with depth of field. But really it’s a high quality, no-fuss little traveler. OK, it’s also the camera used by the character Mamimi in the anime series FLCL. I’m a sucker for that kind of thing. One day I hope to find a reasonably priced XA, its more analog predecessor, which is one of the smallest rangefinders ever made.”
Here are some pictures:
Mission High School, SF
View of the Pac Bell building from the SFMOMA
Empty outdoor sculpture space at the SFMOMA
Disused factory in SF's Dogpatch Neighborhood (cross-processed)
Thanks for reading. Make sure to follow blurb_books on Instagram for more from our little corner of camera-nerd heaven.
2 Comments
I used these cameras for years back in the 80′s and 90′s. I went through 3 of them over the years.
And its not a point and shoot camera. It is a small rangefinder, meaning its a manual focus where you line up the two boxes in the small view finder. A point and shoot camera is auto focus, or fixed focus.
Also, for exposure, you set the aperture and it shows you what the shudder speed is. I use to turn on the flash and change the aperture so it was a fill-in flash, and the lens would stay open to absorb the background lighting.
Randy Magnus
Hey Randy,
The XA-2 doesn’t have the rangefinder features of the earlier XA, just three approximate focus settings. And no way to choose the aperture… so I think of it as pretty much a p&s. But yeah, it’s a great little camera. And that’s a good tip on the flash. If I ever get an XA, I’ll be sure to try it.
best
Kent