Here's a review in 12 "frames" of the XA. I have shot one roll (24 exp
actually) with mine (bought last month).
frame # 1. I shot EI 100 film and got "okay" snapshots in full sunlight. Good
enough web pictures of my cat drinking from a puddle
or whatever. Almost, sorta, barely good enough for 4x6 prints.
frame # 2. Almost all shots in open shade showed camera movement. Advice on
the net is to always use EI 400 film. The trigger is
not mechanical. Some folks on the web say they've grown accustomed to it. Not
one person has said that the shutter location and
"feel" are intuitive and fall readily under the finger.
frame # 3. If you're shooting with the flash, you get f4. The problem with
that is that it's not sharp at f4. Multiple reviews say
that any scene with a normal range of tones will show flare at f4 in the
highlights. We're not talking about specular highlights.
Apparently this is a single coated lens.
frame # 4. Massive light falloff from the flash in corners (and edges) make it
an "okay" snapshot camera. I would never call it a
sharp lens.
frame # 5. Massive lens vignetting at the corners (and anywhere near an edge!)
at f4.
frame # 6. Even if you use EI 400 film, turning on the flash STILL forces you
into f4 and you better not have a subject closer than
5 feet. Here's a pocketable flash camera that doesn't do flash pictures very
well at all.
frame # 7. I shot a series in open shade at all apertures. All of the negs
were correctly exposed on C-41 film.
frame # 8. The thing is, I carried this thing in my pants pocket and took
flash snapshots with it.
frame # 9. The other thing is, I don't think I'd pass up a budget body with
50/1.8 (for $65) to get an XA with A11 flash (for $65).
frame #10, 11, & 12: My suggestion: Rewind mid-roll. Mine will be up for sale
soon unless I keep it to have something that will
always pass through concert checks for cameras. :)
Lama
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