Olympus XA | Before You Buy

Asked and answered, here are my thoughts on the legendary Olympus XA.
FOLLOW: / oneill.onfilm
Gear:
Mamiya RZ67
Olympus XA
Canon AV-1
Shot on:
Fuji XT4
DJI Mavic Pro 2
iPhone X

[@SteveMillerhuntingforfood]

One of the better reviews of this camera, and some excellent shots too! Like the image of the church ( 6:40 ) and the path leading to the church. I love this camera so much I have 3 of them. Backup's maybe or more importantly, I keep different film stocks in them. That way depending on the light and what I hope to shot I can grab a camera with the right film.

[@oneill.onfilm]

Thank you Steve! That's very much appreciated! 3 XAs seems to me to be the perfect amount of XAs! I always wish I had it loaded with B/W when I've got colour in it. Maybe one day I'll treat myself to another model. I certainly would do so if this one ever broke or got lost!

[@rogerking7258]

I've had an XA since 1982. I was thrilled with its image quality back in the days when we used to have our photos as prints, but scanning my negatives in the digital age proved that the images were actually rather soft compared to a modern digital camera. I then discovered that the same applied to scans of negatives taken with my Nikon F5 so I dismissed the idea of using film any more. But by chance, I got hold of a Plustek 8200i SE which is a dedicated negatives and slides scanner. Suddenly, all the softness disappeared and the results are comparable to digital, so I'm now in love with film again. Regarding the XA, I've always felt that it was properly designed from the outset to be manufactured in plastics and as such it is very satisfactory that way. And the pathetic shutter sound and hair trigger shutter button mean that there is very little mass flinging itself around inside the camera which is a great help in keeping such a small camera steady. Both the shutter and the plastic construction would be ridiculous on my F5 but my betting is that these were deliberate design features on the XA in order to make such a tiny camera usable. Just don't wind the film on until you're ready to take the shot to avoid wasting shots.

[@oneill.onfilm]

That's good advice on not winding the film until you're ready to take the shot! It's a habit of mine to wind right afterwards! Interesting that you had such great results with the Plustek as well! I've never used one myself, so it's encouraging to know it might be worth the investment one day! Thanks Roger!

[@Annette941]

You definitely helped my purchasing decision. I will buy! Thank you!

[@oneill.onfilm]

I wish you nothing but joy with this little miracle!

[@Raden253]

Hi! Thanks for your video about the XA. Recently I got mine yesterday and cant wait to go shoot with it

[@oneill.onfilm]

I hope it brings you much joy!

[@familymanbarrett]

Great review. It's my favorite camera by far as well. And yes I waste at least a frame per roll. But it's made some of my favorite images. Always have a roll loaded. Perfect sweatshirt pocket camera.

[@oneill.onfilm]

Thanks Greg! It’s such a lovely little thing it’s definitely made a huge impression on me for such a tiny camera. It will go with me everywhere! Thanks for the kind words 🙏

[@indresimkute791]

This is a great video and your photos are stunning!!

[@oneill.onfilm]

Thank you so much Indre! I appreciate the kind words!

[@andrewmcphee8965]

Great video, thank you! I'm an old film guy and I adore my XA. Just like I adore my Olympus OM-1 that i bought new (I want to be buried with it). Two Maitani masterpieces.

[@oneill.onfilm]

It really is a masterfully made machine. Now that you mention the OM-1 (which I haven't used) I might have to do some KZbin watching. But I really cannot buy any more cameras right now... 😂

[@sarahschembriwarr2470]

Great review - just what I needed before purchasing one - thanks! :)

[@oneill.onfilm]

Ah I’m so glad! You are going to love it Sarah, I hope! Send me your shots on my IG when you get them dev’d!

[@meropealcyone]

Lusted after one of these as a kid but couldn't afford one. I was stuck with an Instamatic. Now I want one all over again.

[@aperes1]

Have had an XA since it was new and love it for its pocketability. I am glad it doesn’t sound like a cannon, so it doesn’t attract attention. If I want a cannon I have my Canon. Well done review.

[@oneill.onfilm]

So true! I was meant to talk about how it was great for street photography because it doesn’t attract attention. Everyone in a 5 mile radius will know if I took the Mamiya onto the streets 😂 thanks for the feedback and comment 🙏

[@fergusfitzgerald977]

It is all of that and more - a tiny little masterpiece ! Use it with a wrist strap - it needs its own special strap / get one if you can it's great to carry ! It's my fav camera ! My other film camera is a Canon AE1 and my digital Camera is my Leica M ! Nice review !

[@grest7031]

What a great video, I really love the camera and I want to geht one now 👍

[@oneill.onfilm]

That’s very much appreciated thank you 🙏 if you get one I hope it serves you well!

[@besperus4475]

I love mine. Same frustrations. But there is nothing I would buy instead…except a XA4 which has a wider angle closer focusing lens. Not, professional, but very fun. Just grab and go…for the times you want to push your creativity.

[@garygullikson6349]

I miss mine and nostalgic about old days of film photography. I am enjoying my old, tiny, Sony DSC-T9 digital.

[@oneill.onfilm]

Film has def made a massive comeback!

[@gabgallant]

Bro your pics are so good and sharp. I had this camera before and didn't get good results. I just picked up another at a charity shop, loaded it with fujifilm superia 800, and will be shooting it at 5.6 or higher 😄

[@oneill.onfilm]

Yeah I definitely get the best results at around F8 - F11. Hardly shoot this thing in low light unless I have 800 speed film. I had no idea there was a Fuji Superia 800 Gab! And thanks so much as well!

[@richardstarr407]

Brendon, I have a small confession to make. On my cycle trip in Europe I wanted to have two cameras, one for sunlight, the other for low low light. For bright subjects, I added a Petri Color 35 loaded with ASA 200 Kodacolor. The XA carried Kodacolor 1000. A brief plug for the Petri, which doesn't often appear in loving articles. It is barely larger than the XA. The lens, 35mm f3.5 racks into the body like the Rollie. It is zone focusing and match needle aperture priority. It is easy to use and has a good lens. In bright light at small f stops it produces fine images. Anyway the XA and the Petri can fi in the palm of my hand at the same time. That's what made them great for bike trips. Brendon, if you send me your email, I'll send you a pdf of the book I made with these cameras.

[@oneill.onfilm]

To have Kodak 1000 today would be an absolute dream, let me tell you. Hopefully we'll see something like that in the future without it being astronomically expensive! My email is [e-mail] 👍 looking forward to seeing what you made with the XA!

[@Oldoldold2023]

Is it just me or are the accidental photos he took like some of the most amazing photos I've ever seen?? 😮

[@oneill.onfilm]

Ha ha ha thanks! Glad you like those misfires. 😂

[@Bonsees]

This video has given me much needed resolve to fix my XA’s light seals so I could use it 😅

[@oneill.onfilm]

I’m so glad! It’s such a lovely little machine! Looking forward to what you make with it as always Bon 👏

[@TheBigNegative-PhotoChannel]

Very nice test especially since it is your first.💪 The image quality is really insanely good for a camera of this size. The shutter sound sounds like someone would be hit in the face with the flat hand. lol After your video I am firmly convinced that I also need one. 😄

[@oneill.onfilm]

I apologise to your bank account for this expense, but you will love this camera man! Thanks so much for the kind words 🙏

[@gerdsteins5991]

Well done!

[@Filmstill__]

Great review my dude 🫶🏻

[@oneill.onfilm]

The legend himself! Thank you so much man! Hope you are doing well and you are recovering from your burns from all the flames you been posting recently 🤣

[@63MacGuy]

This absolutely can be a professional camera!!!

[@oneill.onfilm]

Just put another roll through this last week, and you know what? I think I take that particular point back. It gave me insane results.

[@quite1enough]

It would be awesome is this camera had an option for full manual controls. Shooting long exposures or/and lower iso films is quite hard with auto mode ;c There's also XA4 with 28mm lens, but idk of quality of that lens and there's only scale (zone) focusing, no rangefinder patch. But 28mm usually is in focus almost everywhere starting from f/8 or something.

[@user-nk7yk1eo7n]

Great video !

[@oneill.onfilm]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@thisisbaek]

Perfect review, exactly what I needed before to push the order button. Thanks! 🤣

[@WaygoodTravels]

Great review fam!

[@oneill.onfilm]

Ay thank you man!

[@glenmallory6181]

My favorite cameras of the 80's. While living in Asia, some of my best photos came from this gem--mostly because it was the camera that I always had with me. But it also took gorgeous landscape photos--especially around water. I was sad to have lost it in the Camp Fire that destroyed 19,000 structures in my hometown of Paradise, California.

[@oneill.onfilm]

Ah, Glen, sorry to hear that! It sounds like it served you well, though, and you might be able to pick one up for a reasonable price online if you want to revisit it later.

[@creepyloner1979]

biggest issue i had with mine was the cover slipping too easily and disabling the camera because it's just slightly out of position.

[@oneill.onfilm]

I've had that before as well actually! But probably not as often as yours. Mine is still clicking in position pretty well.

[@nambu1306]

I will try my best to get this next month

[@oneill.onfilm]

Hope you like it!

[@Windsor366]

likes of videos of a simple exit to take pictures

[@iM-mf1ke]

I wonder if my camera light sensor is working correctly, it seems to always hang around the 15-30 mark unless I am outside than I could go to 125 and above but as soon as I touch the f-stop it goes down to the 30-45 shutter speed. Does yours act this way? I just got the camera and I am hesitant to waste film in it.

[@oneill.onfilm]

Try taking a reading with a light meter app, or a digital camera to see if you are getting the same values. Otherwise you should just load a cheap stock and shoot a test roll, that would be the only way to truly tell if the light meter needs fixing. Don’t forget to set the iso speed of your film in the lens (at the bottom) 👍

[@SanTM]

Very helpful video. Been after one of these for a while and may have found a possible bargain.....if it works

[@oneill.onfilm]

Ay! Enjoy it so much, I hope it's as good to you as it has been to me!

[@SanTM]

@@oneill.onfilm I missed out lol. Got sniped quick. Another going tomorrow so fingers crossed!

[@acecreates]

Thanks for the review mate! I should be picking up an XA2 tomorrow for cheap (hopefully!) I'm hooked!!

[@oneill.onfilm]

Thanks Ace, the XA2 is an altogether different beast believe it or not! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did the OG XA!

[@detroitgagt]

I was surprised you didn’t bring up the viewfinder, I just can’t tell if your fully in focus / full infinity

[@oneill.onfilm]

The viewfinder isn’t great in low light. I usually shoot the XA at f8, so things look pins on my side.

[@detroitgagt]

Right like the image don’t line up like most rangefinders it’s hard to explain, I’m on my first roll so I hope to get in groove

[@user-ht2bm3oz8p]

Hi what film stock did you use in these? Love the colors!

[@oneill.onfilm]

Thank you so much, I think most of these are shot on Ultramax!

[@irsyaddzikhrullah9521]

excuse me i want to ask, what is the brand of film roll and what type of film roll??? Thanks

[@oneill.onfilm]

Oh man - I used a bunch in this video. Primarily Ultramax 400 I would say, it's a good all rounder as far as I'm concerned.

[@RhettAnderson]

I'm curious. Why did you say Yoshihisa Maitani was infamous?

[@oneill.onfilm]

The man is just an all-round, bad ass camera designer if you ask me 🤣

[@RhettAnderson]

@@oneill.onfilm I'm still curious about "infamous", which means "well known for some bad quality or deed."

[@marike1100]

@@RhettAnderson Yes, I heard that as well, it seems to be a somewhat common mistake. Pen, Pen F, OM, XA, Maitani had an impeccable reputation, a genius imo.

[@outtathyme5679]

I think the shutter is quiet for street photography purposes

[@oneill.onfilm]

I think you're on the money with that!

[@wangosteen]

Would you recommend taking the XA over the XA2?

[@oneill.onfilm]

I have not used the XA2 personally, but the reason I lean toward the XA is because of the manual controls. They took away a lot of those features in the later models - I believe the XA 2 has zone focusing and no aperture controls... so yeah. If you're looking for manual controls I'd go with the XA.

[@wangosteen]

@@oneill.onfilmthank you !

[@lynnchoi6426]

I would love to know which version of the XA you are using!

[@oneill.onfilm]

The OG version 1. Back when it had aperture controls and not a weird zone focusing system.

[@Lolo-iq6cs]

Talking about hating flashes while the background incessantly flashes lol

[@randallstewart175]

If you wander with him through his elliptical descriptions of the pros and cons of the XA, what you can eventually summarize is: It is a very convenient snap shot camera, great for small prints and scanning for use on social media. Any effort to obtain a significant enlargement will be met with disappointment. It's lens manages to package together the lowest resolution (poorest sharpness), most vignetting (dark edges and corners), and most distortion (straight lines curve) of any camera of its type. In other words, go onto ebay, find at random any small film 35mm camera from the 1970s, and it will do a noticeably better job, being to put an image on a piece of film. If you have good software and the will to sit on your computer for half an hour, you can "correct" much of those image defects. it's a $50 camera selling for $150+.

[@oneill.onfilm]

Cheers Randall

[@richardstarr407]

I have done some critical work with an XA. It was the perfect camera to take on a bicycle trip, That was in 1969. Recently, I dug out the negatives, scanned them and made a 12 x12 book of them. I cropped out sections of frames according to my needs.. The XA images stood up to most of it without a complaint. OK, it's not a Nikon Z9, but it does a respectable job.,

[@oneill.onfilm]

@@richardstarr407 I really love the XA. Would love to see what you made with it!

[@Dahrenhorst]

The XA is not just good for small prints. The F.Zuiko is a six element lens, which - in its time - was, and still is, remarkably sharp. You can't compare this lens with the usual 3 or 4 element lenses being used in the compact point and shoot cameras of that time. This lens is as good as most f2.8 35mm SLR lenses of that time.

[@randallstewart1224]

@@Dahrenhorst The lens has six elements only because Oly needed to force it into a thin camera body. Any 4 element Tessar copy style lens will blow it away by any measure you choose. Frankly, a good Cooke Triplet (3-element) shut down to f 8.0 or so will do the same. The lens in the XA is unique. it was expensive to make and a poor optical performer. Oly never used it again, and no other maker ever made a similar lens. Used as intended, birthday snapshots and trips to the beach, making 3x5 inch prints at Walmart with a second set for grandma, the XA is outstanding, if very cheaply manufactured. Personally, I bought a little Canon Sureshot 8 meg digital about 15 years ago to take that type of photo, so my XA remains "mint" in the camera closet with flash and case/box. Why do I still have it if I'd never bother to use it? It resides with a large collection of cameras I bought out of curiosity and am too lazy to resell. As for your comparison with same era 35mm 2.8 SLR lenses, I challenge you to find one of such which has as much vignetting, chromatic aberration, and poor resolution as the XA - any one, from anywhere.

[@santamulligan676]

Regret giving it to my little cousin got a minox gt boohoo

[@oneill.onfilm]

Sorry for your loss Santa.

[@mrRambleGamble]

I can't hear you clearly. Your voice is really low in the mix.

[@oneill.onfilm]

🤷‍♂️ Turn it up and try dancing to the loud music in between the speaking 😂

[@nambu1306]

@@oneill.onfilm you sound good and clear to me

[@jordan-leemccarthy8805]

need to get my hands on one of these now 🥲

[@oneill.onfilm]

You absolutely will not regret it!