I'm excited!
Bought an XA2/A11 combo off evilBay for a nephew months ago. Just found it
under a pile of papers the other night (in its presentation case, clamshell
closed, so it was well-protected, thank goodness). I broke one of the
cardinal rules of evilBay sporting, which is to always test the item as soon
as it arrives. Gulp. I was lucky. Everything works, as well as looking
like new (perfect seals, nary a scratch anywhere, etc.).
Took it out to run a test roll of film through it. The bad: then took the
film into a mall for 1 hr. developing. First stop: Kits Camera. No luck,
their machine was down and being cleaned. Grrrr.
The ugly: walked on over to Rite-Aid (uh oh, aren't they in bankruptcy,
stores closed and still closing all over the country? I've got a bad feeling
already). They take the film, and say to come back in an hour.
I did. Not ready.
"It'll be about another 20 minutes... there is still somebody ahead of you".
"Do I get a discount for waiting another 20 minutes?"
"Sorry, no."
"Can I get a double set of prints or something?" (I'm learning, as a
consumer, how to say in new ways every day, "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not
going to take this any more!!!", and someday, I'm gonna say EXACTLY that, I
swear)
..... long pause....
"I guess we can do that."
20 minutes later, there is a line of 6, 7 people at the register. Again.
No double prints as promised, just one set. A half hour over the "1 Hr."
advertised. No discount. Grrr. ASK, before you pay for that "1 Hour"
service, what the cost is if they don't meet the 1 hour promise.
And TWO of the pics are of a hispanic-looking baby! I don't recall taking
photos of a baby in the last couple days. Heck, I've never even SEEN this
baby before. Uh oh, I bet they belong to the young hispanic guy that was
just ahead of me in line (mind like a steel trap -- damascus steel). I
return those two prints to the store. Grrr (and grrr for him, too, now long
gone -- wonder if he'll notice he's missing two good shots of his beautiful
baby?).
The color is off a little in some, maybe all, of the prints... not BAD, just
not.... correct. I attribute this to Rite-Aid's sucky machine, not to the
Fuji film. The film was a recent buy, had a distant expiration date, and was
stored in the reefer 'til I put it in the camera yesterday, and temps outside
were mild. A little lens flare in a couple of the shots towards the bright
sun yesterday afternoon, but nothing that looks like a light leak or
anything. GOTTA be Rite Aid's fault.
I have concluded, based upon this one never-to-be-repeated experience, that
Rite-Aid's so-called "1 hr." developing truly SUCKS, in more ways than just
time. And that just maybe ALL 1 hour developing sucks. Back to Prolab for
me. I don't NEED l hr. developing, let alone instant feedback. I need GOOD
PRINTS! Next day, next week, I don't care. Just do it RIGHT. The
impatience of the American consumer has companies turning out JUNK, rapidly
(except in Rite Aid's case, it's junk, slowly).
But.... the good news is, the CAMERA did its job. Every photo came out fine,
as far as focus and exposure. I'm spoiled from looking at OM photos, but
these aren't bad.
A couple of neat features this camera has: every time you close the
clamshell, it sends the focus lever back to mid-range, kind of an idiot-proof
mode (and being a card-carrying, 24 carat idiot...). At first, I didn't like
that feature, but after using the camera a few times and getting used to it,
I can see the Olympus logic: forget to set the focus zone and you'll probably
get a decent picture anyway.
Also, the "ON" button on the flash doesn't work... until... you: actually
ATTACH the flash to the camera, open the clamshell, and throw the little
lever under the lens over to the "Flash" position. THEN, and ONLY then, the
button pops up and glows when ready. Very nice design work, Olympus! (hat
off and bowing). Oh, and pushing down the button to turn off the flash
throws the lever back to the "off" position! This camera is COOL!
At first, the hair-trigger shutter release surprised me. But after a few
pics, I love it. And talk about quiet. After the car crash of the OM-2S
mirror/shutter cacophany (I'm used to it now, and yeah, I kinda like it,
too), you wonder at first if you've actually taken a picture with the XA. I
confess to actually pressing the shutter two or three times at first, not
catching the very quiet and smooth little "click". I just didn't think I had
released the shutter ("Damn! That's IT?" was kinda my reaction).
What a classic little carry-all-the-time, everywhere, hiking, backpacking,
backup camera! Nephew's gonna love this for his birthday coming up. He'll
get it early so he can take a pic of his daughter showing a sheep next
weekend in the county fair!
Now I gotta play with the XA/A16 combo I bought for ME!
If you don't have an XA in your arsenal, get one! These things are CLASSICS!
Rich
P.S. For anyone who may want to see some good XA pics or learn more about
the XA, XA1,2,3,4 (also good pics of our camera design hero, Maitani-san, and
an interesting story of how he designed the XA, on the "design history"
page:
<A HREF="http://www.diaxa.com/xa/xastart.htm";>XA Start Page</A>
http://www.diaxa.com/xa/xastart.htm
(By the way, who created this nice site? Anyone we know?)
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