Olympus XA Cameras Austin Calhoon Photograph

The Olympus XA was a series of 35 mm cameras manufactured and marketed by Olympus of Japan. The original XA was a

rangefinder camera A rangefinder camera is a camera fitted with a rangefinder, typically a split-image rangefinder: a range-finding focusing mechanism allowing the photographer to measure the subject distance and take photographs that are in sharp focus. Most var ...

with a fast 35 mm f/2.8 lens, and

aperture priority Aperture priority, often abbreviated ''A'' or ''Av'' (for aperture value) on a camera mode dial, is a mode on some cameras that allows the user to set a specific aperture value (f-number) while the camera selects a shutter speed to match it tha ...

metering. It was one of the smallest rangefinder cameras ever made, together with the

Contax T The Contax T camera line consists of a number of compact cameras sold by Kyocera under the Contax brand. They were introduced between 1984 and 2002. The T, T2, and T3 use 35mm film and have a fixed 35 mm wide-angle lens. The T-VS, T-VS II, and T ...

. Later models—XA2, XA3 and XA4—featured scale focusing instead of rangefinders.

History

It was designed by

Yoshihisa Maitani Yoshihisa Maitani (January 8, 1933 – July 30, 2009) was a designer of cameras for Olympus Corporation. Maitani joined Olympus in 1956 and worked for them for 40 years. He was involved with the design of many of the company's most well-known came ...

who had joined Olympus Optical Co Ltd in 1956. He was the chief camera designer and managing director of Olympus Optical Co Ltd., having developed a number of legendary cameras during his career. These included the Pen series, the OM series, the XA series, the IS series and the ju:series of cameras. The original model, the XA, was sold from 1979 to 1985.

Models

* Olympus XA: small rangefinder with aperture priority 35mm f/2.8 lens * Olympus XA1: simple mechanical camera with a selenium meter * Olympus XA2: scale focus camera, automatic shutter 35mm f/3.5 lens * Olympus XA3: Same as XA2 with "DX" automatic film speed recognition * Olympus XA4: distance focus camera, 28mm wide macro lens The original XA's lens was protected by a sliding dust cover. Film wind is by thumb-wheel, aperture is set on the right side of the body using a small lever, focus is set by a small lever below the lens, film speed (ISO) is set on a dial below the lens, the viewfinder is optical direct-view with the rangefinder frame embedded in it and a display of the shutter speed at the side. There was also a small lever on the camera's base which when flipped out, added 1 1/2 stops exposure to the shutter speed. This could be used to counteract the effects of subject back lighting. The XA1 used a fixed-focus lens. Although the cameras resembled each other, there were subtle differences in design. The XA3 and XA4 were slightly larger than the XA and XA2. The original XA's dust cover dome resembled a flattened oval, whereas the other models had a more rounded design. Each of these substituted focusing distance for the right-side lever for the aperture-control of the original XA. As a result these cameras were automatic program only, whereas the original XA was an aperture-priority camera.

Accessories

The XA series was accompanied by a range of detachable flash units. The standard A11 took one AA battery and had a guide number of 10. The A16 took two batteries and had a guide number of 16. The A9M and A1L were smaller units for the XA1 and XA4 respectively.The Olympus XA Camera: Flash
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Specifications

References

External links

Casual Photophile
- User Review of the Olympus XA

- gives model details and opinions * {{camera-stub XA 135 film cameras