I have three of the little feckers! First one was my 11th birthday present in 1981! Cost £89, as I recall, with A11 flash and presentation case! Went just about every where with me for almost 1/4 of a century; probably has more miles on it than the space shuttle! Eventually succomed to a lens scratch circa 2003, which resulted in me being give the other two by relatives who had bought into widgetal!! The FOOLS!
The one she took of me...
Taking a picture of her!
Yup, daughter 'claimed' the extra spare one, to dabble with propper photography, ad loves it almost as much as me, for the tiny digital rivaling compactness, as well as the simplicity and the filminess and full-frame lovliness!
Fantastic cameras, they have ALWAYS been well regarded, and it is some-what gauling to see them now being regailed as 'Lomo' simply because they are so often found so cheap in charity and junk shops; when you have to consider that when new, THESE were an award winning bit of very expensive avate-guarde photo equipment. That £90 my first one cost in 1981, was FAR from a 'cheap' camera! I the same shop at the same time, that would have bought a brand new Olympus OM10 SLR and 50mm outfit; or an comprehensive Practika starter outfit, with maybe two or three lenses, a flash gun, tripod, some effects filters and spare film all in a flight case! Or maybe even a couple of them!
Whilst the meter-coupled automatic electronic exposure system made them a point and press easy to use camera, that won a lot of non enthusiast and often lady buyers, it was still regarded very highly for its image quality and versatility as well as its compact size and discreteness, which made it a popular choice for candid photographers and the Paperatsi of the era, in the semi and full pro arenas.
Its clam-shell lens-cap on/off switch was an award winning feature that quickly became common for compact cameras; whilst its diminutive dimensions set new standards of compact for compact cameras, that have seldom been matched; it still remains the smallest full-frame 35mm film camera ever put on the market, only the Minox 35 is smaller, but only when the lens is retracted! (One of mine is currently sat on the shelf next to a Canon Power-Shot compact, and its darn nearly as diminutive as even THAT modern, micro-sensor 'compact'!!) The electronic Automatc Exposure, was accurate and reliable, and in an era when a lot of reliance was placed on film latitude ad correction in printing, coupled to the cracking quality of the compound lens, made for very impressive, SLR rivaling image quality...
Yet, in the hands of non enthusiasts, it was a camera that was point and press simple to use, and opened the door to 'professional' quality mages, to a mass market, significantly women users, who at the time often shunned (or were discouraged form!) more involved 'enthusiast' cameras that begged more know-how to operate, and gave them a camera that delivered genuine SLR standard pictures, from something as easy to use as a 110 cartridge camera.
It really REALLY was a genuine land-mark camera, when it was released, and really was ground breaking, bringing both new standards to non-enthusiast photographers as well as new levels of useablity for them to do it.
There are just SO many reasons to appreciate this little camera, beyond the mere fact that t s STILL a cracking little picture taker! There really is, It Is a true and deserved Classc that has earned its place up there in the hall of fame of GREAT ad land-mark cameras.
You got yours for a euro; I got all three of mine for free! HOW ON EARTH does that happen?! How do you get such a bit of real 'history' more history you can still USE, and more get really great results from, (Example, "here's looking at you looking at me", shots probably excepted!! Blame cruddy out-of-date print film, and perhaps the mug behind the lens, not the camera!!!), for next to if not actually 'nothing'!?
Its actually incredible, BUT likely not to last, and in recent years interest in the model, and appreciation, does seem to have increased, and prices do seem to have risen.... you MIGHT have to pay as much as £20 for a nice example on e-bay now! As word seems to have got about! But who cares; there are probably more than enough to go around! They were popular enough when new that they managed to survive along side their supposed 'successor' the Mjiu, that packed in an inbuilt flash ad motor-wind on, and was o where near as much camera for it, to my mind, and experience, though those too do seem to have something of a small cult following like the real deal AX2.
Worth a mention that the XA and the XA1 are both very different animals; as has been mentioned, the slightly earlier XA is a proper range-finder camera with a manual focus control, and slightly larger body to accommodate it. Conceived for a more elevated enthusiast market, who would significantly judge it almost exclusively by its possible mage quality, rather than any innovation by way of its automatic exposure control, or novelty of its diminutive dimensions; it achieved some applause if not such great acclaim as the XA2, that had so much more impact and didn't just wow the market, it MADE the market for easy to use, compact compacts! The XA1 on the other hand? Well, it was a cost-cutting exercise to answer the only gripe any-one could rally critasise the XA2 for, which was that it WAS an expensive camera! The XA1, then stripped out the electrickery of the XA2, as well as the zone focus mechanism, and replaced it tighter aperture, fixed focus lens, and used a battery-less, selenium cell array around the lens to both meter ambient light levels and power the more limited range of electronic shutter speeds. It certainly helped put 35mm film cameras in the hands of non-enthusiast users, being 'cheap' and, it could delver almost as good image quality in better lighting conditions, but did lack some of the versatility, and wan't as nice or easy to use or give as reliable results, and as the ugly sister, was far less loved in general, and seems to have remained so!
But, the XA2... its not a camera it is an icon.. a ground breaking camera, a bit of history ad legacy that is as much f a joy to use today as t was thirty odd years ago, and can still take stunning photos.. when some-one puts half decent film in one, and points it at something a bit more photo-worthy than my ugly mush! Slap some film it it; pop it in your pocket, and go take photo's with it! That has always been what they are best at, and mine are still doing! EN-JOY!
Mont Ventoux by Jon, on Flickr
Train, Saint Didier, Vaucluse by Jon, on Flickr
