I am slowly working through the cameras I acquired at the end of last year. I got this one for £20 back in October. So for now my GAS counter is safe…or is it. I see GAS as when I actively spend money on a camera or lens. I have actually gained some cameras recently, but I haven’t had to spend money on them. I have either swapped something for them or they have been given to me on loan. Is that still GAS?

Anyway, this was a camera I actively searched for. I have tried the XA2, but it wasn’t my favourite Olympus experience. Wow, I just looked at the date of that one, it was almost 10 years ago. I can see a huge change in my father’s appearance. You don’t realise when you live with someone day in and day out, then you see a photo.

Again, let’s get back to the camera.

This is the only XA that doesn’t need batteries, it has the selenium cell around the lens. It also has a fixed-focus lens which makes it a bit easier to use than the others. It is the lightest of the XAs so a perfect bag or pocket camera. It was produced between 1982 and 1985. It doesn’t have the best specs for a point and shoot, with the lowest aperture starting at f4 and the top speed being 1/250th. On top of that, it only accepts two film speeds 100 or 400 asa. As you can see, mine came with the A9M flash which is the only part of the camera that requires a battery. Without that attached, it is a tiny camera. The viewfinder is very basic, there is no information at all but there is a red flag. Like the Olympus Trip, this red flag stops the camera from firing when there isn’t enough light. The one on my example worked perfectly, as did the flash.

As I was unsure of the camera, I tried it with a roll of expired Orwo first. The resultant shots were underexposed due to the age of the film, but it let me know the camera was working.

Here are a few from that roll.

Next, I loaded a slightly less expired roll of Agfa 200 which I set at 100. These photos were taken over the Christmas holidays and New Year. Obviously, I was in love with the blue sky for the one day we saw it. I had taken a trip to Barnsley to see a Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit.

The statue of the boy is in celebration of the movie Kes which was based around the area. I know I saw the film a long time ago, but I am reluctant to watch it again as I found it heartbreaking.

This time I liked using the XA, mainly due to the lack of functions. The lack of zone focusing and the red flag made it much simpler to use. Sometimes, you just want to ‘point and shoot’. The 35mm focal length was just right for wandering around with too.

You can read more about this camera at these sites:
https://austerityphoto.co.uk/olympus-xa1-review-blacksheep-done-good/
https://www.35mmc.com/24/11/2019/5-frames-with-the-runt-of-the-litter-the-olympus-xa1-brian-nicholls/
https://www.hazelandeye.com/blog/2019/3/23/maitanis-little-ranger-olympus-xa1-3pPdp