This camera has served me well over the years, it’s tackled at least 4 festivals and more nights out that I care to remember. It’s ultra compact and easy to keep in a pocket or bag without any worry about space or weight. That being said, the camera has a metal body with some plastic components. This leads to a highly durable camera.
The Olympus XA2 is a 35mm point and shoot camera made in Japan by Olympus between 1980 and 1986. The XA 2 and in fact the whole XA line were designed by Yoshihisa Maitani , he was also credited with the creation of of some of the most prolific camera lines that Olympus ever made including the OM and Pen series cameras.
It is an automatic exposure camera, with scale focusing, very similar to the LOMO LC-A. This leads to a lighting fast camera that requires very little adjustments to the settings.
I’ve used the camera for all sorts of photographic work including three consecutive years at Download Festival. It’s compact and smooth design makes it easy to carry on day to day basis. It has a fantastic, high quality lens that creates beautiful images in any lighting situation. This camera is one that everyone needs in their collection, however the price of them is quite inflated as of this post being written. I was lucky to have mine handed down to me by my mother, but to buy one today you’re looking at paying at least £100 to get one in good condition. This camera is a classic as far as compact 35mm cameras go. If you get the camhance to use you, I guarantee you’ll instantly fall in love with it!
