first XA shots [Archive] - Rangefinderforum.com

bmattock

04-01-2006, 03:32

Honestly, the Olympus Epic is a better lens/camera than the XA.

http://members.aol.com/dcolucci/epic.htm

Dan

Dan, so is a Leica M7 with a Summicron. It's horses for courses. The XA is a rangefinder, the Epic isn't. Both lovely cameras.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

bmattock

04-01-2006, 03:34

What a great little camera. I love it. All wide open, accept "rock wall." The "stable" window is George Washington's at Valley Forge...that's his house in the reflection.

Very nice! I'm always quite pleased with mine. And it looks so little like a 'pro' camera that it is quite easy to use without being paid much attention to.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

Michael I.

04-01-2006, 03:40

the robot shot is freakin' awesome

dcsang

04-01-2006, 03:43

I miss my old XA :)

I keep thinking I should pick up another one.. merely because it was a) so easy to carry and b) was great to shoot with :)

But.. I've got enough cameras right now :D

Nice shots Langdon; too bad that you and Lisa couldn't work things out ;)

Cheers
Dave

SteveM(PA)

04-01-2006, 03:46

Mine goes with me everywhere. Its razor sharp lens has yet to let me down! Enjoy it. I noticed that you live in Collegeville. I am in Malvern. Would you be interested in a local RF group?

I love the Malvern area. I used to rent a caretaker's cottage on an estate out in Newtown Square. I will watch with great interest if a local group starts up. I'm doing the single dad thang though, and I very rarely get to step out these days.

SteveM(PA)

04-01-2006, 03:49

too bad that you and Lisa couldn't work things out ;)

Cheers
Dave

YES! Dave, no one can tame me... :D

Gabriel M.A.

04-01-2006, 06:13

Great shots, Steve. I've resisted buying a new XA, but your shots may do me in. :D

Hey, do you scan your own shots, or do you have them scanned for you? They're great.

jan normandale

04-01-2006, 06:17

one of the RFF members here "SamtheMan" has been putting up a ton of stuff shot with an XA. GeneW's awesome "Union Station" shot in the RFF book#2 is an XA.

SteveM(PA)

04-01-2006, 12:42

Great shots, Steve. I've resisted buying a new XA, but your shots may do me in. :D

Hey, do you scan your own shots, or do you have them scanned for you? They're great.

Hey Gabriel...thanks! I'm afraid I'm at the mercy of whatever my drugstore (cvs) chooses to do with my film. I get different degrees of quality from them, but that's ok for my low standards. :) I do a smidge of USM and some straightening/cropping.
I think the xa is going to become something I'm going to feel naked without. So, if you do get another, be warned of having another accoutrement to remember (uhh...keys...wallet...phone...ipod...xa...). I've been forgetting my wallet a lot, while remembering the xa...good but not good at all. :)

SteveM(PA)

04-01-2006, 12:50

the robot shot is freakin' awesome

I've GOT to get a shot of him with his head lit up and smoke pouring out of his mouth. He's very finnicky though, there's a loose wire somewhere.

pesphoto

04-01-2006, 12:59

I like the stable shot most. But all are impressive pics from that camera. I bought an XA once upon a time, but it got "lost" in the mail according to the seller on eb-y. That was back in September 05 and it has never shown up. I may give it another shot.

dazedgonebye

04-01-2006, 13:04

I like that robot as well. He's very cool.
My new XA is still in my pocket, but I'm only half way through the roll. I got distracted by the pinhole thread....

Ballen Photo

04-01-2006, 13:49

What a great little camera. I love it. All wide open, accept "rock wall." The "stable" window is George Washington's at Valley Forge...that's his house in the reflection.Two Steve's, Eh? You can sure tell that's a sharp little lens by the detail in the rock. :)
My new XA is still in my pocket, but I'm only half way through the roll. Steve, You managed to pick one up? :cool:
I finally ventured out to pick up a couple SR44 batteries for mine at Radio Shack last night, and found the cross referenced number is 303. Now to get motivated and buy some film for it. :rolleyes:
-Bruce

dazedgonebye

04-01-2006, 14:31

I wasn't planning on it Bruce, but there it was on a table at a camera show...just $35, I couldn't resist.

bsdunek

04-01-2006, 14:46

My Dad got an XA when they first came out. Pretty soon, that's all he used; his other cameras stayed in the closet. When he passed away, I started using it, and love it.

Now I have more than enough cameras, like most of us, but the two I use most are the XA and a Yashica Electro 35. They're both just FUN :cool:

Bruce

Ballen Photo

04-01-2006, 15:45

I bought my XA2 in 1979 (I think.) I, and my wife to be had taken a ride from Vegas to Reno on my old GS1000 motorcycle. This bike was not a dresser, so everything we had with us was in a packpack that was strapped to the sissy bar in back. I had an old Polaroid camera stuffed in there, but was not impressed with either it, or the valuable space it took up. While in Reno I decided to check out a camera store to see if there was a more compact solution. The girl behind the counter showed me the XA2 and I bought it. It went out the door for a shade over $100. I left the Polaroid with her to use for a doorstop. ;)
I liked the XA2 so well that I ended up getting the XA as well a few years later. The XA2 with its automatic shutter, and zone focus system was still quite capable in spite of its tiny size and automation. Still, the XA with manual focus, and selectable F stops became my favorite. :D
I believe it holds the record for being the worlds smallest fully coupled rangefinder camera that shoots full frame 35mm film, and with an F/2.8 lens to boot. :D
-Bruce

Sean Chan

04-04-2006, 20:51

Here is a photo taken by my XA last year.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=21210&cat=5462

I have a few point n shoot cameras and nowadays I stick with a Rollei 35 most of the time but once a while I will shoot a roll with the XA.

Iggy

04-05-2006, 09:16

Lovely shot Sean. The XA2 is such a marvellous design but delivers the goods where it counts.
A digital XA-D would be a great idea, don`t you think?
Cue a thousand angry responses :bang:

Flyfisher Tom

04-05-2006, 09:30

very nice shots, particularly wide open, I'm impressed

kingkong666jp

04-30-2006, 12:58

Honestly, the Olympus Epic is a better lens/camera than the XA.

http://members.aol.com/dcolucci/epic.htm

Dan
two different cameras, i would take xa over epic anytime :bang:

raid

04-30-2006, 19:04

Honestly, the Olympus Epic is a better lens/camera than the XA.

http://members.aol.com/dcolucci/epic.htm

Dan

This is what is important from the link given above:

"My assumption is that the shutter only has 1/500 OR 1/1000 to select from, nothing in between...and only F5.6 or F8 with nothing in between."

This is very limiting.

Sean Chan

05-01-2006, 18:24

I own both the XA and the Mju 2 (Epic). I agree that the optics of the Mju 2 is better than the XA but the XA gives the user better control over the expourse and usually it means that you can stop down more with the XA where the Mju 2 's auto mode will have the aperture wide open under same lighting condition.

The XA makes less noise as it doesn't have a film advance motor which makes it a better camera for me.

Personally, I perfer the XA much more than the Mju 2.

Here is a photo I took yesterday with a XA :

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=138390547&size=o

bmattock

05-01-2006, 18:43

The Mju 2 makes less noise as it doesn't have a film advance motor which makes it a better camera for me.

Did you get that backwards, Sean? The XA has no motor advance - I presume the Mju does?

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

Sean Chan

05-01-2006, 19:14

Did you get that backwards, Sean? The XA has no motor advance - I presume the Mju does?

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

Yes Bill, I wrote it out the wrong way around, I will amend my message.

Thank you for your information.

ampguy

06-18-2006, 22:59

What secret kind of film are you using? My first roll of XA photos on Fuji 400 don't look nearly as good as yours :mad:

Then again, I shot my first roll outdoors on a bright day, so had to stop down. Also read reviews that these lens are best at 5.6 - 8 or so, but you have clearly shown that is not necessarily the case!!

Great photos!

What a great little camera. I love it. All wide open, accept "rock wall." The "stable" window is George Washington's at Valley Forge...that's his house in the reflection.

Austintatious

06-19-2006, 20:02

I picked up an XA a few weeks ago on fleabay. After a new set of light seals, it's a real nice little camera! I can see this one becomming a fav real quick. These are from a test roll I shot with some Walgreens ISO400 color print film. The inside shots are at f2.8 and the bike is ~f5.6 or there abouts. I love the build and the size of this camera. I am very pleased with the results I'm getting also. A great camera & fun to use ! :D

Charles

ampguy

06-19-2006, 20:15

Nice pics. I got my 2nd roll back from my XA. I'll see if I can find a couple good ones.

Diggin99

07-05-2006, 22:18

I love the shots here with the XA...I got the XA2 from ebay...it seems to work ok but the first roll I put through it was very washed out...I plan to try it again with different film and in various lighting conditions...I am glad to here that others have had success with the XA2..I was not so sure about mine after looking at these first shots...A few are in my member gallery...

Nancy

ampguy

07-06-2006, 05:12

I looked through some of your gallery pics, and they look excellent. I do see some artifacts which I think are probably from the developer, little scratches on the negatives that I often get as well from the drugstore developers.

Some folks think the lens design of the original XA which has a different lens/group combination than the XA2 and 3 and 4 makes it different, but it's possible the more lenses/groups can also add to flare in some situations.

The 4 is very rare because of the very wide 28mm lens it uses, maybe other things or low production factors in as well.

I love the shots here with the XA...I got the XA2 from ebay...it seems to work ok but the first roll I put through it was very washed out...I plan to try it again with different film and in various lighting conditions...I am glad to here that others have had success with the XA2..I was not so sure about mine after looking at these first shots...A few are in my member gallery...

Nancy