XA Lens Quality?

[btgc]

And yes, XA reminds me very much Pentax PC35AF, in terms of picture.

[raid]

I often use the Minox GT and the Olympus XA side by side. Both cameras have sharp lenses, and I have not discovered a clear advantage of the GT over the XA.

[kuzano]

Originally Posted by raid

I find that holding the little camera steady is harder than a full sized camera. This could be one of the reasons why wide open images can appear rather soft with the XA. Test it wide open on a tripod.

Here in Beerfart NB, we use a lot of duct tape. In fact Beerfart uses more rolls per capita, per year than any other community in the USA.

It's not uncommon to find me in the crowd at the annual "Corn Shuckin and Hog Callin Festival" parade, taping my XA to sign posts along the parade route to get those memorable shots.

But once you anchor that lil sucker down, the lens delivers on the goods. Good as anything anybody else in Beerfart owns. And wide open that little bit of subject-containing vignette in the corners is JUST right!

[Lilserenity]

I've always found my XA to be acceptably sharp at f/2.8, in fact I find it hard to fault except for the slightly faint in broad daylight rangefinder patch.

[DavidC]

My XA has pretty much outlived its useful life of 20 plus years. I am beginning to get irritated by the difficult to see rangefinder patch and the hair trigger shutter. But if you need a small camera that takes film and can still pack a punch in the picture dept. then the XA can still come in handly. In particular if you are contemplating a long hike on the Great Wall of China. Your big rfdrs will become a real pain and you will wish you had your XA instead.

[caperunner]

BTGC.. Great photo! Whereabouts did you take this one?

[btgc]

Thanks, caperunner! With kindergarten kids celebrated ancient fairy Ūsiņi - dedicated to Sun and Ūsiņš who manifested Sun in old times, also served as protector of horses. Also had some dancing and games supplemented by live music. Geographically this happens in Latvia.

Hope not obscuring original XA topic too much...

[caperunner]

Not obscuring XA topic at all. I play the GHB - great highland bagpipes and this pic caught my eye. What pipes are these?
Definitely a Celtic scene with fiddle, drums and pipes, or even medieval. This is why I liked your pic. Haven't I seen this scene on a woodcut before?
Back to XA good little camera...

[btgc]

That could be Irish bagpipes. Truly speaking, I don't know much of them...Once I tried to play; this is good work for lung and relaxation for mind.
XA2 also is good palm-sized camera

[tan131]

The XA has allowed me to shoot some pictures which I had never shot before mainly for two factors, its size (which I ended up carrying everywhere) and its discreet looks (which allowed me to take shots without drawing attention). As for the lens quality, its as good as any top notch camera of its time

http://www.flickr.com/photos/2814486...7606995532022/

[iceman]

i find it acceptably sharp at all fstops, but i rarely open it wide though.

my only gripe about the XA is the RF patch. both of mine has faded quite a bit so i dont bother with focusing as much now. just use hyperfocal and enjoy.

[KenD]

On mine the lens is a lot sharper than the focusing capacity of the dim rangefinder patch )

KenD

[racoll]

Originally Posted by btgc

And yes, XA reminds me very much Pentax PC35AF, in terms of picture.

I wish my PC35AF, either one of them, took pictures that looked as good as those from my XA, but they just don't quite get there. Close, but not quite. It's a great camera, the PC35AF, another great design that I like just as much as the XA, but I love the results from the XA a lot better. In response to the original question, mine is always sharp and I'm always impressed by the pictures I get from the XA. Once in a fit of stupidity, I sold my 3 XAs, my XA2, and my XA1. That's when I realized how much that camera means to me, so I had to get another and will never part with it again.

Andy

[Moto Mark]

Oh the XA! It's been a long time since I had mine but to this day it was one of the best pocket size cameras I've ever used. I never had a problem with the quality of the lens and even wide open the photos were just magic.

All this XA talk is making me want to fire up eBay and have a look

[rovnguy]

I have 5. Come over to my house and I'll give you one. They all seem to work quite nicely for me.

[gnarayan]

I finally traded my XA this past weekend at PHSNE Photographica show for a motor winder for my OMs. One thing I rarely used for another thing I probably will rarely use. Cute little thing but never quite did it for me. Yes it was small but might I was always stopping it down since the VF and RF were useless and in that case might as well just use a digital compact.

[Moto Mark]

Originally Posted by rovnguy

I have 5. Come over to my house and I'll give you one. They all seem to work quite nicely for me.

I might have to take you up on that At least that will give me an excuse to go back to San Diego, one of me all time favorite cities.

[kuzano]

Originally Posted by Dave Wilkinson

I agree, Raid, - but it's a great little pocket camera. Mine has largely been replaced by a .....gulp!....digicam, these days, so I'll be looking for a new home for it shortly

Dave.

I too will be looking for a home for my digicam and starting to carry the XA again, or one of my XA2's. I wish the digicam could upstage either of them, but I guess it's a $500 lesson I just had to learn.

Welcome back when you sell your digicam. In my case the $ loss was harsh, but warranted by the image quality of my XA

[mh2000]

well... I started this thread because over the years I've only been so-so satisfied with this lens... but in preparing for a little exhibition I decided I wanted to put up one photo taken with the XA and even though the proofs and scans looked prety mediocre, my 8x12" print looks quite good... I doubt it would go much bigger, but at 8x12" the camera is quite decent stopped down... certainly capable of making quality images.

[st3ph3nm]

Originally Posted by raid

The XA is not meant to be used wide open all the time.
I use it at 5.6-11 most of the time.

Is any lens "meant" to be used at *any* aperture "all the time"?
The best photo I ever took of my wife was with my XA fully open at a street cafe, with a really busy background. Her face is really clear. I only wish my scanner still worked so I could re do my gallery!

I'll agree with some here - I've never liked the shape of the lens flare (the square aperture doesn't do much for me) when it happens, and the vignetting you can get is sometimes more than I'd like, but at the end of the day, I shoot far more with my XA than I do with my SLR, and I love it. It can be difficult to focus accurately in low light with the XA's rangefinder, and combined with low depth of field, this can be another drawback. I don't think the XA is the perfect low light camera.

Cheers,
Steve

[Henryzx]

Originally Posted by btgc

And yes, XA reminds me very much Pentax PC35AF, in terms of picture.

I bought a brand new PC34AF-M (motor drive) in the box for 5 bucks a few years back and never use it (too busy with my oly's), I didn't know that it would be comparable with the XA., prob. put on a roll and test it next week.

[btgc]

Originally Posted by Henryzx

I bought a brand new PC34AF-M (motor drive) in the box for 5 bucks a few years back and never use it (too busy with my oly's)

I'd be happy had Pentax model aperture control and zone focus. Lens is really nice.

[jamxo]

Love my Xa, in terms of having a little manual focus rangefinder its just awesome.
Use it wide open alot, and it delivers, and I did that little trick when you marker pen in the rangefinder spot so its easier to focus. Some shots:

[John Lawrence]

Foolishly I sold my XA about a year ago, but in the years I had it I found the lens to be very sharp (for the time the camera was produced). Obviously it got better when stopped down a bit, but really I had no problems with it at all. Not for nothing was it christened, "the camera the Pros take on holiday with them"!

[Gradskater]

Originally Posted by jamxo

Love my Xa, in terms of having a little manual focus rangefinder its just awesome.
Use it wide open alot, and it delivers, and I did that little trick when you marker pen in the rangefinder spot so its easier to focus. Some shots:

That second picture is amazing. Well done!