Classic Point & Shoot

Although the Olympus XA2 I used to capture the image of my sons above on Kodak BW400CN film is something of a cult classic it is essentially an early 1980’s point & shoot camera. These little gems have gotten a bad reputation simply for being simple and easy to use. This grandfather of the ubiquitous auto-focus (and pretty much auto-everything else) point & shoot 35mm cameras of the 1990’s and early 21^st century is almost as easy to use as those that came afterwards. The only things left for the photographer to do is set the film’s ISO (ASA in those days) and choose one of the three zone focus positions. Everything else is taken care of for you.

This was revolutionary when this camera was introduced. With shutter speeds from 2 seconds to 1/750 the sharp 35mm f3.5 Zuiko lens captures incredible detail, even in the window reflected selfie. This is only the third roll of film I’ve put through this great little camera. I posted a couple times about it last March (2013) if you’re interested in reading more about it or seeing more pictures taken with it.

Every time I use the XA2 I am amazed by the quality of both the camera and the images. The XA is a bit more sophisticated because it is a true rangefinder and had more controls but for sheer simplicity and a lot of fun its hard to beat the XA2.

There are many great 35mm point & shoot cameras to be had for under $10 from Ebay or thrift stores. I think everyone should have at least one to carry around with them where ever they go.