Olympus XA4 - Others Like It?

[bvy]

I think I want an Olympus XA4. But they're a little hard to find -- and they tend to go for top dollar when they do turn up. So I'm wondering if there are other 35mm cameras like it. Specifically I'm looking for a very compact 35mm camera with a fixed 28mm lens and good manual control. Can you think of any others? Thanks.

[John Koehrer]

Ricoh GR-1. There's one in the classifeds, Nikon Ti28, Olympus Pen W if you can deal with 1/2 frame.
It seems like the fixed focal length compacts all go for bigger money.

[Oren Grad]

Ricoh GR1
Nikon 28Ti
Minolta TC-1

BUT: they're all pricey, and I don't think any of them allows full manual control - just exposure compensation and/or fiddling with the ISO setting.

EDIT: I should say "tend to be pricey". Just saw the GR1 currently listed in the classifieds, as mentioned by John - that's a good price for a GR1.

[Rol_Lei Nut]

I had an XA4, but was disappointed: I found the lens to be "decent" but not more (I was expecting something more based on some reviews I'd read).

Also, practically no control over f/ stop ect.

[BetterSense]

I have an XA4, and I love it. Actually I had an XA2 and I liked it just as much or more than the XA4, but the shutter quit being consistent. I found the XA2 lens to be very good. XA4, well I haven't really noticed, so it must be decent.

[Alex1994]

Minox 35 & Rollei 35

[Excalibur2]

I had an XA4, but was disappointed: I found the lens to be "decent" but not more (I was expecting something more based on some reviews I'd read).

Well I have quite a few different makes of P&S and found most of them have very good lenses (non zoom) but don't equal a SLR prime lens in an enlargement test. I have one P&S zoom (Olympus) and it's crap for sharpness.

[Krzys]

My GR1 in the classifieds allows for locked focus at any distance and aperture control. 28mm, same as the XA4 but a much better lens.

[Rol_Lei Nut]

Well I have quite a few different makes of P&S and found most of them have very good lenses (non zoom) but don't equal a SLR prime lens in an enlargement test. I have one P&S zoom (Olympus) and it's crap for sharpness.

My "standard" *is* that of a good prime lens.

The Rollei 35, Minox 35 and a number of others do fit that bill allowing top quality enlargents which can be qualitatively as good as those from just about any lens out there.

In my experience, the XA and XA4 perform at a much lower level.

[Excalibur2]

My "standard" *is* that of a good prime lens.

The Rollei 35, Minox 35 and a number of others do fit that bill allowing top quality enlargents which can be qualitatively as good as those from just about any lens out there.

In my experience, the XA and XA4 perform at a much lower level.

Well I don't have a Rollei 35 or Minox 35, but the very good P&S Nikon L35ad lens i.e. 35mm f2.8 IIRC is based on the sonnar design, yet it can't equal my Canon FD 35mm f2.8 in an enlargement test....I'm not complaining but accepting that there might be the laws of optics preventing compact lenses in most P&S equaling SLR primes.