January 20, 2013

Small is Big: Olympus XA1

And so my film journey continues.

I got myself an Olympus XA1 today. Maybe I was destined to always end up with underdog gadgets,this particular model is actually in the lower rung of the XA series. But what more can I expect to find in a pile of garbage at the flea market? I didn't get it cheap though...the guy knew his stuff well.

While the other bigger siblings sport fast 2.8 35 mil lenses, this one has a humble f4. It still has rave reviews on the internet. The best part is it doesn't use a battery. A selenium meter takes care of the metering, with an interesting red-flag in the viewfinder to show underexposure. The shutter gets automatically locked...pretty neat. Wonder how that works.

Here are some pics of the camera (Taken with Lumia 800). I loaded it with a Kodak gold 100 to see how it fares. I'll update this post once the pictures are developed.

35mm f4 Zuiko lens surrounded by the Selenium meter

Kodak 100 ready to roll! Pun totally intended

Very light and no batteries to weigh it down.

I have small hands. The camera is smaller.

Alongside the mighty Yashica Electro GSN


I also noticed there is no good video of this awesome little camera on the internet. So I made one myself. I sound like beep and my hands aren't the best but the cam looks great!

Here it is:



1 comment:

Aleksi Lausti Photography said...

Ever develop those photos? How did they come out? I am curious about the hyperfocal setting of the lens...