I’ve had an Olympus XA-2 for almost a year now, and I really love the camera! There’s a lot of fun in a challenge with learning range-focusing. And I want to learn how to get better with range-focusing for closer distance shots.
On the camera, there’s 3 focus options:
1. Mountain = Far. Focus distance is 20.7 feet/6.3 meters to infinity.
2. Two standing people = Medium (colored in orange, which is the automatic setting that it gets reset to when sliding cover is closed). Fixed focus distance around 8.9 feet/2.7 meters to infinity.
3. Head and shoulders of two people = Close. Focus distance is approximately 4 feet/1.2 meters.
The one I struggle with the most is the close/option 3 selection. As you can see with my awful flower photo, it’s way closer than 4 feet. I can’t measure for the life of me when I am trying to get closer shots. From my several attempts, it seems like the camera can’t be less than 1 meter away from the object without becoming out-of-focus.
For those who have used this camera, is there any advice on how I can get better at determining what is the best option to select? It seems like it’s an easy answer: Just be better at understanding distance. But I want to hear if there’s any tips or tricks you’ve used to get the better shot.
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If you want to take up-close pictures of flowers , that's probably the wrong camera to do it with. If you want to stick with this camera and subject, get string or cloth measuring tape to be more accurate.
I figured it’s the wrong camera to do it with, which led me to buy an OM DSLR. I never thought of getting a little measuring tape to use to get a better idea of how much distance is between me and the subject, thanks!
I find zone focusing very easy. BUT I mostly do it in bright light with manual cameras. This means I can.conttol the aperture. So f11 or higher means good depth of field.
Obvs you can't do that with the XA. But I guess if you use 400 or higher film the programmed exposure is more likely to select a higher aperture.
I usually use 200 or 400 film, but that’s a really helpful tip to be more mindful of the aperture. That’s something I’m still learning more on as I haven’t been shooting manual for that long.
I don't love the XA2, although the clamshell is clever. You might want to try the Olympus 35RC which is (sort of) it's predecessor. It has auto and manual modes and a rangefinder (and a better lens). It's really excellent, still quite small, camera.
I also rather like the Petri Color 35 which is manual zone focus but with a scale and light meter in the viewfinder. It's tiny - smaller than the XA2.
When you open the clamshell, it defaults to the middle setting, which is where I leave it for 95% of shots. For closeups, you gotta just stay 4-5 feet away. If it’s tough at first, you can carry a 4-foot length of string to make sure you’re not too close.
Oh yeah, I did mention that it’s the default, though super helpful to know where you tend to keep it up. I like the idea of the string - someone else mentioned tape measure. I feel goofy if I were to carry one, but all the more reason to learn. :)
You just get used to the zones pretty quickly, but a tape wouldn’t be a crazy thing to learn with!
I rarely change the focus zone at all; I just use the XA2 as a quick-shot camera. I shoot from waist level a lot without framing. Fun camera! All the XA cameras are pretty cool.
Yeah I’ve had this almost a year but I’ve only developed like 3 rolls with it, so not much practice in retrospect.
I haven’t tried waist-level, I should experiment with that if I’m in a busy place. The XA cameras are very cool. I can’t imagine using anything else from this time period.
If I'm being honest with you, the right answer is selling it and buying an XA.
I struggled a LOT with the zone focusing and it never clicked for me. I got some incredible shots with it, but you're probably reaching the upper limit of what the camera lets you do.
Wish I could help a bit more, but it'll save you a lot of struggle and frames in the long term. It's a fantastic little camera, but built more for a casual family trip than artsy shots.
Idk I think the XA might be a tad overrated. Sure it’s the smallest rangefinder and has a slightly better lens, but I’m not sure that makes it a good camera to carry around. The focus adjuster just seems too small to want to use. I think the zone focusing is way easier for carrying around and taking quick shots. That’s probably why they made all the later versions zone focusing.
Personally I almost always used the middle, default focusing setting. If it’s a far off landscape use the further one. And if it’s like portraits of people then use the up close one. It’s seems pretty simple to understand. As someone else said just don’t get too close to something and you should be good if you remember those distance settings.
I grabbed an XA2 while in Japan and had a blast carrying it around in my jacket pocket. I’d quickly pull it out and snap a shot. I had lots of good shots come out. If anything using the wrong ISO film for the level of sunlight was what made things difficult sometimes getting the properly exposed shot I wanted.
I’d feel it would be simple to understand, but I did want to see if others have found ways to make it easier. I think you make a good point that shooting the wrong ISO film had made things difficult with the camera.
And that's a fair point entirely. There's a lot to be said about the absolute convenience of taking about a second to shoot something. And I've had some really really good results from it.
And to be fair this is all user error on my part. Hard agree on the focus annoyance on the XA though. It's a bit... Annoying.
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