Recently I bought a new (old) camera, an Olympus XA2. I primarily shoot medium format film for most of my work, but I was looking for a compact but high quality 35mm point and shoot to add to my kit.

The XA2 checks all the boxes for me, and I found a really cute blue one so I decided to pull the trigger. I am headed to NYC later this month and really needed to snag a camera and properly test it beforehand. I don’t want to get too nerdy about why the XA2 is a good fit for me but this camera slides into my workflow in a way that not a lot of 35mm cameras can. I use a medium format range finder for most of my work, and because of that I end up zone focusing a lot. The XA2 is a zone focus system so it makes sense for me, and fits into my workflow so perfectly. I’ll get into the zone focus a little more later. So if you’re not sure that that means, sit tight. <3

The day this camera came in the mail I flew to the local camera shop after work to grab some batteries and a roll of 35mm film (Ilford FP4+ to be specific) and then quickly headed back to my house to rip apart the box that was lovingly packaged and sent all the way from Japan.

I was supposed to climb at a local crag with some buddies that evening, so I figured I’d just quickly fire off a roll and develop it when I got home later. Low-stress first roll. I just wanted to make sure everything worked.

I really had barely looked at a manual for the XA2 online before I loaded up a roll of film, snapped a few shots in the backyard and then headed to go climb. I really only wanted to make sure the camera actually worked, I wasn’t too hung up on the roll being full of great pictures or even a single good picture. My main concerns were:

• Does the meter work properly

• How the fuck does zone focus work on this thing

• How do photos look with flash during golden hour and blue hour (my fave time to shoot with flash)

Overall I was very happy with my quick first roll through this camera. When I did get the focus right, the lens is very sharp, and the in-camera meter worked really well for most of the scenes I shot. This was incredibly encouraging because the main reason I purchased this camera was to have something that was easy to use for quick snapshots but still capture high quality images. The fact that I was able to do this on my FIRST roll with the camera was the indicator that I needed. I already felt that this camera was going to be the perfect addition to my kit. I definitely did not shoot many great images on the first roll, but that is totally okay. Like I mentioned at the beginning, making great images was not my main focus. I just wanted to make sure the camera worked. However, I do want to share my favorite failures from the first roll and what I learned from them.

The main issue that I knew I would have with this camera lies within the zone focus mechanics. Most 35mm point and shoots have an autofocus system, but I have never found a point and shoot that has an autofocus that cooperates with the way that I typically shoot. The XA2 has a zone focus, which means I have to manually select the focus. There are three focus ranges to choose from: 1 meter to 1.5 meters, 1.2 meters to infinity and 2.5 meters to infinity. Lots of overlap, lots of confusion for me. I didn’t know what was going to work for what types of scenarios. This has been the hardest part for me to understand and get right, especially on roll one. On the top image, I chose the closest zone (1 meter to 1.5 meters) and it was a little out of focus. The middle focus option would’ve been the better choice. For the bottom image, I accidentally left it on the middle zone (1.5 meters to infinity). I figured this would be okay since technically it should focus all the way to infinity right? Nope!! I know this now. I was very excited about both of these images so I was pretty bummed when they were out of focus, but thats why I set low expectations for the very first roll. I can only exceed them at that point.

All in all, very impressed with the camera and how quickly I got the hang of shooting it. It fit the task I had given it, and I was excited to continue to improve my abilities with it.

This past Thursday I found myself testing positive for Covid.. after a few days cooped up in the house I decided it was time for a walk. My neighborhood doesn’t have a lot of foot traffic so I figured my chances of coming into contact with someone was pretty slim. I also wanted to shoot one more quick test roll on the XA2. After the first roll I felt as if I had a great understanding of the camera and I wanted to shoot one more quick roll before I shot any serious work with it or shot any color film (its expensive!!).

I went out to shoot around 2/3 pm so the sun was still very bright. I figured this was a great chance to test out how the in camera light meter did with direct sunlight and high contrast situations. I also needed to try my luck with the zone meter again, especially with photos in that weird range between 1.5 meters and 2.5 meters. I wasn’t expecting much from this roll. I was sick and just needed to get out and take a walk and put the XA2 through some final little tests. However, I was really happy with few images from the roll. The above image of the little flower patch tucked into the tall grass was my absolute favorite. The flowers are glowing and it really separates them from the grass in the background, exactly the kind of look I was going for when I shot the image. Gonna share a few more of my favorite images below, really snagged a lot of photos I was happy with :)

I did not even shoot a full roll of 35mm but I feel as if I totally got the hang of all the techniques I struggled with on the first roll. The learning curve for this camera is so minimal, I am very impressed. One of the only cameras I have gotten great results with almost immediately. Plus, I have not even shot any serious work with the camera. Thus far it has only been casual test rolls, I am beyond excited to start experimenting and making lots of work with this camera.

The meter behaves exactly as I would expect it to when shooting high contrast scenes. The first image is a really good example of that. Shadows are quite dark but I was still able to get a lot of detail despite that. This is especially important to note for when I am taking portraits in similar lighting conditions and may need to add some extra light to my subjects face. The meter also nailed the exposure for the suburban scenes. The sky did not get overexposed and all the darker areas of the photo still have lots of detail as well. The balance is absolutely perfect. Also, when shooting with color film I will be able to get even more detail in the darker areas, so I am very excited to put a few rolls of color film through this camera.

I also nailed the zone focus with this camera finally. I made a few mistakes still, but I am very proficient with the focus mechanics now. The focus mechanics give me a lot more confidence than I normally have with an autofocus point and shoot, so I will be using this camera a lot more than I have used my point and shoots in the past!

The XA2 was the perfect purchase for me, it fits right into my shooting process and has already produced great images for me in a casual setting. I think this will help me make more photos and shoot more often! This is the camera I needed to revitalize my shooting process and get me excited to make new work again. Sometimes all you need is a new camera, so if you’re thinking of buying one.. DO IT!

It has been a lot of fun to walk through my shooting process this way, and I am very excited to see how this blog style format evolves for me. If you made it this far, thank you so much! I have always enjoyed writing but it has not been something that I practice often. But, I am determined to write a few of these each month. It is helpful for me to think about photography like this and I love utilizing mirror and the blockchain in this way. Web3 kinda cool :)

Recently I bought a new (old) camera, an Olympus XA2. I primarily shoot medium format film for most of my work, but I was looking for a compact but high quality 35mm point and shoot to add to my kit.

The XA2 checks all the boxes for me, and I found a really cute blue one so I decided to pull the trigger. I am headed to NYC later this month and really needed to snag a camera and properly test it beforehand. I don’t want to get too nerdy about why the XA2 is a good fit for me but this camera slides into my workflow in a way that not a lot of 35mm cameras can. I use a medium format range finder for most of my work, and because of that I end up zone focusing a lot. The XA2 is a zone focus system so it makes sense for me, and fits into my workflow so perfectly. I’ll get into the zone focus a little more later. So if you’re not sure that that means, sit tight. <3

The day this camera came in the mail I flew to the local camera shop after work to grab some batteries and a roll of 35mm film (Ilford FP4+ to be specific) and then quickly headed back to my house to rip apart the box that was lovingly packaged and sent all the way from Japan.

I was supposed to climb at a local crag with some buddies that evening, so I figured I’d just quickly fire off a roll and develop it when I got home later. Low-stress first roll. I just wanted to make sure everything worked.

I really had barely looked at a manual for the XA2 online before I loaded up a roll of film, snapped a few shots in the backyard and then headed to go climb. I really only wanted to make sure the camera actually worked, I wasn’t too hung up on the roll being full of great pictures or even a single good picture. My main concerns were:

• Does the meter work properly

• How the fuck does zone focus work on this thing

• How do photos look with flash during golden hour and blue hour (my fave time to shoot with flash)

Overall I was very happy with my quick first roll through this camera. When I did get the focus right, the lens is very sharp, and the in-camera meter worked really well for most of the scenes I shot. This was incredibly encouraging because the main reason I purchased this camera was to have something that was easy to use for quick snapshots but still capture high quality images. The fact that I was able to do this on my FIRST roll with the camera was the indicator that I needed. I already felt that this camera was going to be the perfect addition to my kit. I definitely did not shoot many great images on the first roll, but that is totally okay. Like I mentioned at the beginning, making great images was not my main focus. I just wanted to make sure the camera worked. However, I do want to share my favorite failures from the first roll and what I learned from them.

The main issue that I knew I would have with this camera lies within the zone focus mechanics. Most 35mm point and shoots have an autofocus system, but I have never found a point and shoot that has an autofocus that cooperates with the way that I typically shoot. The XA2 has a zone focus, which means I have to manually select the focus. There are three focus ranges to choose from: 1 meter to 1.5 meters, 1.2 meters to infinity and 2.5 meters to infinity. Lots of overlap, lots of confusion for me. I didn’t know what was going to work for what types of scenarios. This has been the hardest part for me to understand and get right, especially on roll one. On the top image, I chose the closest zone (1 meter to 1.5 meters) and it was a little out of focus. The middle focus option would’ve been the better choice. For the bottom image, I accidentally left it on the middle zone (1.5 meters to infinity). I figured this would be okay since technically it should focus all the way to infinity right? Nope!! I know this now. I was very excited about both of these images so I was pretty bummed when they were out of focus, but thats why I set low expectations for the very first roll. I can only exceed them at that point.

All in all, very impressed with the camera and how quickly I got the hang of shooting it. It fit the task I had given it, and I was excited to continue to improve my abilities with it.

This past Thursday I found myself testing positive for Covid.. after a few days cooped up in the house I decided it was time for a walk. My neighborhood doesn’t have a lot of foot traffic so I figured my chances of coming into contact with someone was pretty slim. I also wanted to shoot one more quick test roll on the XA2. After the first roll I felt as if I had a great understanding of the camera and I wanted to shoot one more quick roll before I shot any serious work with it or shot any color film (its expensive!!).

I went out to shoot around 2/3 pm so the sun was still very bright. I figured this was a great chance to test out how the in camera light meter did with direct sunlight and high contrast situations. I also needed to try my luck with the zone meter again, especially with photos in that weird range between 1.5 meters and 2.5 meters. I wasn’t expecting much from this roll. I was sick and just needed to get out and take a walk and put the XA2 through some final little tests. However, I was really happy with few images from the roll. The above image of the little flower patch tucked into the tall grass was my absolute favorite. The flowers are glowing and it really separates them from the grass in the background, exactly the kind of look I was going for when I shot the image. Gonna share a few more of my favorite images below, really snagged a lot of photos I was happy with :)

I did not even shoot a full roll of 35mm but I feel as if I totally got the hang of all the techniques I struggled with on the first roll. The learning curve for this camera is so minimal, I am very impressed. One of the only cameras I have gotten great results with almost immediately. Plus, I have not even shot any serious work with the camera. Thus far it has only been casual test rolls, I am beyond excited to start experimenting and making lots of work with this camera.

The meter behaves exactly as I would expect it to when shooting high contrast scenes. The first image is a really good example of that. Shadows are quite dark but I was still able to get a lot of detail despite that. This is especially important to note for when I am taking portraits in similar lighting conditions and may need to add some extra light to my subjects face. The meter also nailed the exposure for the suburban scenes. The sky did not get overexposed and all the darker areas of the photo still have lots of detail as well. The balance is absolutely perfect. Also, when shooting with color film I will be able to get even more detail in the darker areas, so I am very excited to put a few rolls of color film through this camera.

I also nailed the zone focus with this camera finally. I made a few mistakes still, but I am very proficient with the focus mechanics now. The focus mechanics give me a lot more confidence than I normally have with an autofocus point and shoot, so I will be using this camera a lot more than I have used my point and shoots in the past!

The XA2 was the perfect purchase for me, it fits right into my shooting process and has already produced great images for me in a casual setting. I think this will help me make more photos and shoot more often! This is the camera I needed to revitalize my shooting process and get me excited to make new work again. Sometimes all you need is a new camera, so if you’re thinking of buying one.. DO IT!

It has been a lot of fun to walk through my shooting process this way, and I am very excited to see how this blog style format evolves for me. If you made it this far, thank you so much! I have always enjoyed writing but it has not been something that I practice often. But, I am determined to write a few of these each month. It is helpful for me to think about photography like this and I love utilizing mirror and the blockchain in this way. Web3 kinda cool :)