I had high hopes for the Olympus X-A2, it’s one of those cameras that piques interest as a competent point and shoot camera. It’s basic, it’s no frills and it aims to get the job done.
After picking up a Leica M6 which is my ‘serious’ film camera and one I’ve wanted for a really long time I’ve been looking for a simple point and shoot film camera to carry with me all the time.
I’ve owned a couple of point and shoots before such as the Olympus Trip 35 & a Canon Sureshot Supreme which I shouldn’t have sold when I did. However after a bit of research one of those cameras that cropped up was the Olympus XA2 camera.
After a search and reading through a few reviews online it turns out the XA2 is a rather great little camera, easy to use – no faffing about with focussing or need for additional accessories such as covers or bags to carry it around in I was sold!
Zone Focussing Challenge
The Olympus XA2 is a real simple camera with zone focussing as opposed to the original XA which was a rangefinder focussing camera.
It features 3 zones for focussing, a near focussing zone, a default mid focussing zone and a far focussing point. It can make it a little challenging to focus positively and be confident that the subject is in focus but it does make it very quick to use.
However my enthusiasm was somewhat flattened and the disappointment of running a film through it only to find just about every single frame is out of focus is palpable.
I’m really gutted as it looks as if the X-A2 doesn’t focus as it should indeed it doesn’t appear as if it focuses at all! But for what I paid for it, it’s not worth trying to get it fixed, I’ll move it on for spares/repair.
Analog Dave 