The point-and-shoot Olympus XA 1, a 35mm viewfinder film camera introduced in 1982, is the most basic and easiest-to-use of the Olympus XA series of 35mm capsule cameras. The camera is fitted with a 35mm 1:4 fixed-focus D.Zuiko lens, designed with four elements in four groups and a universal focus range from 1.5 meters to infinity. A built-in selenium meter automatically adjusts exposure, and the camera operates with a programmed shutter speed range from f/4 at 1/30 seconds to f/22 at 1/250 seconds. The camera will only operate with the film speed setting of ISO 100 or ISO 400.
The camera's push-button shutter release is coupled to a red pop-up flag mechanism that locks the shutter to prevent underexposure in low-light conditions. Like the rest of the capsule camera series, which includes the original XA, XA2, XA#, and XA4 Macro, the camera is a clamshell design. A sliding dust cover protects the lens and activates the camera. Unlike the other cameras in the series, the XA 1 does not need batteries to run or operate.
Like the rest of the camera series, the XA 1 is designed to use only the proprietary XA series flash units. The camera is normally sold with the A9M flash (a purely manual flash unit powered by a single AA battery), and will also work just as well with the A1LM, A11, or A16 flash units.
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The plastic-bodied Olympus XA 1, with its point-and-shoot simplicity, is undeniably easy and fun to use. Film loading and rewinding are straightforward, and underexposed shots are simply blocked by the red flag in the viewfinder pop-up if the lighting ambiance warrants such.
The trick to overcome the red flag pop-up is to first point the camera to a brighter light source, half-press the shutter to meter the lighting condition, and with the shutter still half-pressed, reframe the image, and press the shutter release fully.
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