This line of cameras is one of those niche items that have a group of die hard aficionados of a size you never suspected. I didn't realize people were freaks over Olympus XAs but there are groups out there and not all of them are hipsters. Me? I just collect the stuff.

The Olympus XA line was a game changer for 35mm back in the early 80s, with an elegant sliding cover that protects the lens and tiny tiny size (and tinier still if you take the flash off), it made it perfect for slipping in your pocket and taking on vacations. It presaged the digital compacts of today. It's funny that a mass market camera is now a niche market camera, but that's no different than lot of pieces in my collection
now. Large numbers may have been thrown away but the few that remain are in the hands of people like me.

This is a bit of a delight to feel in your hands. I like sliding the dust cover open and shutting it. It's no secret that industrial design is a big part of my collecting cameras and this one fits the bill. It's no bigger than the mouse I'm using on my computer and surprisingly is a pretty decent snap cam.

And I've broken it, already.

This is one thing that I'm not a fan of. The electromagnetic shutter button is this tiny red thing that is inset into the body. You have to shove your finger into it to depress it. To me, it is hard to tell whether you have triggered it because the shutter is so damned quiet (which is good for street snaps). But some time yesterday running through my first roll I must have jammed it. I realize, from a design standpoint, that it is
inset so that you don't accidentally trigger it in your pocket. That's nice! But breaking it is not nice.

But while it was working, it took surprisingly competent pictures. The second one above was taken by my dad of me. That's me. My dad knows his way around cameras but even if he didn't, this compact does all the heavy lifting for you. There is no aperture or shutter speed control. Out of 24 frames, nearly all of them are close or on the mark in terms of exposure.

It has no focus ring either. It has only three zones of focus. You set it for landscape, group or portrait and that's all. Holga users will know what I'm talking about. As long as you have judged the distances properly, then it's all up to depth of field of it's little 35mm Zuiko lens.

For $30 it was a deal: but I have to figure out how to get that shutter button out.

Update

Aaaannd.. it's busted.I took it apart and whether it was already broken or broke when I took it apart, the circuit board underneath the shutter button is in pieces.

R.I.P* Olympus XA2.

*Rest In Pieces