Any help for my XA?

[Alan Gage]

So I haven't been shooting very much film lately. I got a DSLR and like it quite a bit. I like not having to fiddle with film. I was thinking it might even be nice to get a nice pocketable P&S for the times I don't want to carry a larger camera. Unfortunately none of them really come close to being what I want (and they aint cheap). So I decided I'd just use my Olympus XA for those occassions. I was kind of excited about my decision. I haven't used it in about 6 months and was looking forward to using a small, light, and quiet rangefinder again.
 
Unfortunately when I dug it out today I found the meter is off 2-3 stops. The battery check works and I tried new batteries too. It didn't make any difference. Since the film speed setting only goes to 800 I can't even change the film speed enough to make up for the difference if I'm using 400 film (which it will use most of the time).

I guess my question is if anyone has had similar problems and if there's some sort of simple fix for this (I'm not holding my breath). It seems quite a few people use XA's and I haven't heard about a whole lot of meter problems with them.

Barring any easy fix for this I'll probably start trying to hunt up an XA-3.

Thanks,

Alan

[Dean Williams]

I'll hold my breath with you, Alan.  My XA also has a meter problem.  Over exposes about 2.5 stops.  I do have an XA2 which works fine, but I like the rangefinder on the XA better, as opposed to the zone on the XA2.  The XA2 has a slower lens too, though not by much.

[Alan Gage]

I think you better quit holding your breath now Dean, you're starting to turn purple.

I went ahead and got a cheap XA2 off Ebay, I guess I'll see how it works. I don't expect to need a pocketable rangefinder often anymore so it won't get that much use. In some ways I find zone focus cameras liberating. If I have a camera with a rangefinder or an SLR I'm too picky about getting my focus perfect, even if I'm working at a small f/stop. If it's just zone or guess focus I'm not as picky and my pics still come out fine.

I kinda wanted to get an XA3 because the film speed can be set to 1600, but the XA2 is easier to find. I think I can live with 800.

As for my XA, it won't be worth selling the way it is. I guess I could still use it if I'm using 100 speed film and just set the camera to 400.

Alan

[LarryD]

Yashica guy has a battery Adaptor for your camera that may cure the problem.

Larry