XA Lens Quality?

[kuvvy]

Dave, Re the 35Ti, it's a nice camera and the lens has to be the sharpest I've ever used, at least on a compact. I never really liked the camera as much as my Contax T2 though. The aviator style dials on top of the camera give it a unique style. the viewfinder isn't as bright a the T2 though IMO. Sold mine after only a couple of months.

Nikon 35Ti


I've got an XA too, bu tsadly it doesn't see much use. I've got a roll of the new Ektar 100 in at the moment which I need to finiish. I find the lens acceptably sharp but nowhere near as good as the high-end compacts such as the 35Ti and the T2. What I've always liked is the clamshell design, as when it's closed it protects all the glass, both lens and vf. No case needed.

Oly XA

[urban_alchemist]

I love it and find the lense very very good (not up with my TC-1 or Ricoh GR1s, but the payoff is the manual RF)... It does like to vignette at f2.8, but I think it adds to the charm - part of its signature.

I like it so much I've just ordered a second one (my present one has a problem with the shutter where it refuses to fire occasionally - just enough that I've missed quite a few shots)...

(@f2.8 on the day I moved out of my old apartment)

[Matus]

I voted that it "never gets really that sharp" what might be a bit unfair, as my expectations were probably too high. I used it as my P&S camera (NOT the only camera) loaded with Ektar 100 for a 3 weeks trip in New Zealand. At f/2.8 this camera is VERY dreamy - suitable according to my opinion only to special stuff (portraits?), as one keeps stopping down the situation indeed improves and get reasonable by f/5.6 or so, but it never gets technically speaking really sharp. As I was doing mostly landscape stuff - it was not the best choice. But the tiny size had its advantages.

I did some 8x10" prints and had to do some clever sharpening before printing and the results are nice enough, but looking close - it could be better. But the way the camera "draws" is pleasant to me (actually surprising given the fact that the aperture is rectangular).

You can see some of photos HERE, though none of the photos were taken wide open, as I was trying avoid that setting. More photos to come in the next days - some wide open too.

Still - I am rather sure that the performance will vary among the XAs. These little guys are turning 30 in between (as I am ) so maybe a CLA can help to improve on the image quality side (have to ask my wife ).

A few more comments on the corners - there is quite some vignetting - especially wide open. Whlile this seem to vary from camera to camera, it is something that one should not forget about. I do some partial correction in PS afterwards, thos I do not attempt to remove all of it.

[Matus]

OK, so as promised, some 100% crops @ 2700 dpi can be found HERE These practically unadjusted (see comments under the pictures) and not sharpened.

I have also added quite some XA photos to my New Zealand set, though they still miss the description ...

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For some reason once I export the pictures to JPG (and also convert form Adobe1998 to sRGB) and open them with Safari (which is 'color profile aware') I get slight magenta or pink casts - especially visible in the clouds. My monitor (a quite good one) is calibrated, but I might need to check that. In the Photoshop tho photos do not have this cast - independently of the color profile they are converted into.

[Trius]

As counterintuitive as it may seem, an XA on a tripod, triggered by self-timer, is not a bad thing. Yeah, not the intended modality, but even the piezoelectric shutter actuator doesn't totally counteract vibrations in a tiny, plastic-bodied camera.

[wakarimasen]

I think there's a real knack to this camera, due to it diminutive size. The phoographs from my first roll of Ektar (just developed and scanned) starts out rather poorly, but seems to improve a little as I've got used to handling it.

[rovnguy]

From my sweet little XA @ f/11 and whatever shutter speed the camera set (sounded like 1 - 2 seconds) on Ektachrome 100G. I just set the focus to infinity, set the self timer and set the camera on something steady.

[MarkoKovacevic]

Very sharp in non-flare lighting conditions!

[jke]

Because it is small, it is easily carried and thus whether or not it is the right camera is moot because it is the camera you have with you when you see things.

[tunebomb]

it is "sharp" enough for me



link to large

[mauro scacco]

Oly Xa, absolutely not bad quality lens, and very confortable to
use and to hide in street photography...

[zuikologist]

Mauro - the first one and the sixth one are superb. Well done.

[Trius]

And I like the 5th one as well. Well done!

[Bingley]

I know this thread is about sharpness, but the quiet shutter lets you take discreet street shots close up...

[Bingley]

Zone focusing at f.8:

[nightfly]

I was just preparing images for a show and one by the XA squeaked in. I had to do some photoshop work to get rid of the lens flare but it's definitely a keeper. Sold the camera long time ago and now use a GR1 to do the same type of shooting but the design of the XA is second to none and when I look back to when I had it, I seem to have shot a lot more. Lighter and more pocketable than anything else.

That said when reviewing a lot of images taken with different cameras, the XA's don't really stand up to the Leica, GR1 and T4 images but I could open it and set the aperture and focus with one hand in my pocket and always be ready to shoot.

[chris00nj]

It's a very sharp lens.

Look at the American flag on the third mast:



Here is a detailed scan of that flag:

[ZeissFan]

The XA is a very nice camera, but like a lot of cameras, it's been hyped to the point where expectations are raised to an unreasonable level.

I think the lens is very good. Not legendary but very good.

It has plenty of features: Backlight compensation, somewhat decent ISO range, self-timer, battery check and a rangefinder. However, do keep in mind that it's a very narrow base rangefinder coupled to a wide angle lens. For those of us who think the Cosina Voigtlander Bessa cameras have a narrow base rangefinder, try half of that or less (I should measure later when I get home). Still, it's nice to have one.

The body is a bit too smooth, and I can easily see a photographer dropping it. Same goes for the Minox 35 series. The Rollei 35 has enough dials, protrusions and body leather to make it more difficult (although not impossible) to drop.

On my camera, the meter needle is sluggish and inaccurate, although it seems to expose correctly.

[btgc]

Originally Posted by ZeissFan

On my camera, the meter needle is sluggish and inaccurate, although it seems to expose correctly.

I think you already knew that XA's VF needle is independent from meter deciding about exposure. Some XA's don't show exposure in VF and still expose just fine.

[ZeissFan]

Yes, I sort of figured as such. The meter is "ballpark" accurate, but I don't think is always representative of the actual exposure.

[not_in_good_order]

f5.6 on Elite Chrome 100:



f11 on Kodak Portra 800:

[not_in_good_order]

It's not pin sharp, but it's not bad either: f2.8 on Superia 800:

[Denis M.]

I use the camera as a pocket camera at @800, and the meter is pretty good most of the time. I love the 1.5 backlight switch. My sharpness problems with this camera are always in the slow shutter speeds, most shots at 1/30 and below don't come out. I attribute this to the clunky shutter and the lightness of the camera (most of the time, I can see the needle jump when I tap the shutter).

The Yashica GSN doesn't have this problem, but than again it's a brick of camera.

[SRam13]

I love my current XA. I usually get nice, sharp, nicely exposed photos with it. I one took it and an equally old Nikon N2020 with me to Chicago over a year ago. The shots with the XA rivaled the Nikon shots.

My first XA had a a problem with the, I think, shutter. The camera immediately goes to self-timer mode (without the bottom lever sticking out) after tripping the shutter button.

[not_in_good_order]

f4 on portra 800 (click the image for a larger view):