Category: Gear & Tips

Olympus XA

I was hired for my first retail job by a family friend who sold camping gear. He wanted to see if he could sell cameras, too. I was 15, an avid hiker, and knew cameras. I got the job.

His shop sold Olympus XAs. At the time (late ’70s), these were new, innovative cameras. Still are. The XA features rangefinder focusing and aperture priority metering in a tiny, lightweight body. A sliding cover protects the 35/2.8 lens. A proprietary flash (the A11 or A16) provided supplemental light. It was unlike anything else. And again, it still is.

I don’t remember selling a single camera, though I sold a lot of camping gear and hiking boots to justify keeping me around.

I have a thing for compact film cameras, and have shot with a couple of Minox 35s, a Rollei 35, and a Chinon Bellami. All are still in my collection.

None have the interesting and weird combination of features of an Olympus XA. After researching the XA line, I decided I needed some hands-on time with one. After a few months of watching eBay, I landed an XA with an A11 flash. I replaced the battery, loaded a roll of expired Fuji Sensia, and tested it out. The 45-ish year old camera works like a charm. Focusing and the meter are both dead-on, and the lens is sharper than it has any business being. Despite being a tiny thing, it handles well, and the controls fall readily to hand (finger?). The rangefinder patch is bright and focusing is quick. I love it.

Expired Fuji Sensia film pushed one stop.
Expired Fuji Sensia film pushed one stop.

In fact, I love it so much I bought a second XA at auction. It was an impulse purchase that came with an A16 flash and cost about half the going price of an XA in excellent condition. It’s the one in the photos, with the Gordy’s finger loop. And it works every bit as well as the first one I bought.

Here are a few photos I shot with the second XA in my collection.

The Olympus XA isn’t just unique. It’s a solid, easy-to-carry tool for film photography. I’m glad I finally got around to shooting with one after all these decades. Mine are keepers.

Rollei 35

I went through a phase a few months ago when I bought several film cameras at auction. I’ve tested every one and found some keepers (Olympus XA) and duds (Yashica Electro 35). The Rollei 35 I picked up is a sweet camera. It has a retractable lens, zone focusing, and manual exposure control. The build quality is excellent. Mine was made in Singapore (others are German-made).

The lens is clear, and almost everything works as it should. The only question mark is the meter, which works intermittently. I’d keep the Rollei and use an external light meter, but I’m not fond of the 40mm lens. So, I sold it. So it’s on eBay.

Here’s a test shot using Kodak Gold 400.

Ricoh GRIII, my perfect travel camera

Since 2013, the Ricoh GR has been my favorite travel camera. In 2018, I wrote about why the GR is so wonderful, and since then my opinion hasn’t changed. I have options (Lumix mirrorless, Nikon DSLR, and a Fuji X100, not to mention several film cameras), but when it’s time to pack my bags, the GR is my go-to.

So when my 12-year-old GR bit the dust, I replaced it with a GRIII. There are some upgrades over the old model:

  • A 24 megapixel sensor with better low light performance
  • Image stabilization
  • A touchscreen that simplifies choosing a focus point
  • WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity

The GRIII loses its built-in flash, but that’s not a concern of mine. I rarely used the GR’s flash, and when it makes sense I carry a LightPix Labs Q20II instead. More about this later.

My GRIII is the Street Edition. I didn’t buy it for the eye-catching orange lens ring (it also comes with a black ring) or slightly different body texture. I bought it because I had a trip coming up and it was in stock. Standard GRIIIs can be hard to find.

A lot of folks who are looking at GRIIIs ask, Should I consider the GRIIIx? I did, and decided the wider lens of the GRIII (28mm equivalent) is one of the things I love most about the GRIII. The field of view works better for me than the 40mm equivalent lens on the IIIx. I shoot the bulk of my photos with wide lenses. If that’s not you, this probably isn’t your camera.

My Ricoh GRIII setup

The GRIII is simple but oh so flexible. Here’s how mine is configured:

  • The Gordy’s camera strap from my old GR now hangs off the GRIII. Gordy’s straps are simple, pretty, and last forever. They’re also a bargain. A generic screen protector prevents scratches on the touchscreen.
  • I carry a LightPix Labs flash when I think I might want some fill light. It’s a tiny thing, manual only, and has a neat trick that makes it perfect for my purposes: The hot shoe adapter detaches from the flash to become a remote trigger. Push a button and I have an indirect light source.
  • Battery life is still an issue, so I carry three spare Wasabi batteries.
  • I shoot JPEGs with the GRIII, and am playing with Ricoh Recipes. My quick setting are: U1–Royal Supra, U2–Monochrome Film, U3–Monochrome Film in square format.
  • Ricoh’s Image Sync app isn’t perfect, but it does the job when I want to quickly transfer images from the camera to my phone.

I have a trip coming up, and I don’t have to think about which camera will go in my bag. It’ll be the GRIII, without a doubt.

A few images I shot with the Ricoh GRIII

The Perfect Travel Camera

2026 update: There’s a market for dead GRs, and I sold mine to partially fund a new GRiii. A review is coming.

2025 update: My GR bit the dust.

2024 update: My GR seems to be slowly dying, and the decision that’s on the horizon is, replace it or go for the GRIIIx, which has the 35mm equivalent of a 40mm lens. I’m straddling the fence on this one.

Let’s get this out of the way: There is no one, perfect travel camera. There’s only the best camera that works for you. Or in this case, the one that works best for me. First, some history.

I’ve shot with SLRs and DSLRs for about 40 years. In 2010 I traveled to the UK with a bag of Nikon bodies and lenses. I was shooting for a client, but I also carried that gear as I walked around London on my own. The images were good; the experience was miserable.

Three years later I was packing for a trip to Paris and looked at my big bag of gear. I remembered lugging it around for two weeks. Instead, I packed my Ricoh GR and two spare batteries.

The Ricoh GR, if you’re not familiar with it, is a wonder camera. For some people. It has an APS-C sensor (the same size you’ll find in many DSLRs), and a range of features that allow users to focus on making great images. The lens is a fixed 18.3 mm f2.8 (28 mm equivalent) that encourages getting closer to subjects. It also fits in a pocket. And that’s all I carried for a week and a half in Paris. You can see a few of the results below.

Since then, I’ve flirted with other cameras. My Fuji X100T often travels with me (and is a much better camera in marginal light), but I keep gravitating back to the Ricoh GR that’s been in my collection for five years. Here’s why:

  • It’s small and lightweight. The advantages of this are obvious.
  • That lens. It’s better than a camera at this price point has any right to be–sharp, with little fall off or softening at the edges.
  • Snap focus. If you’re familiar with zone focusing, this is essentially the same thing. When walking around I leave the focus point set at 1.5 meters (and aperture at f5.6); when I’m ready to snap a street pic the camera is already focused. There’s no lag. If I need to change the focus point I can simply press the AFL button on the back and it autofocuses.
  • Superb JPEGs. The internal processor is excellent, and I don’t have to deal with large RAW files. The resolution is high enough to print high quality 11″x14″s.
  • Custom settings. I have three custom settings that are changed on the top dial: Street color, street black and white, and square format black and white. I can switch between them quickly and without a lot of thought.
  • It’s unobtrusive. People around me often don’t notice it, and don’t have the same reaction to it that they would have to a larger, more “serious” camera.
  • It’s relatively inexpensive. I carry mine on my bike, and in situations where it might get beaten up. But it’s not so expensive that I worry about it. That way I can stick to the first maxim of cameras: The best camera is the one you have with you.

The GR has always been a cult camera, so much so that Ricoh periodically sighs (as much as a corporation can) and admits that there are enough photographers in love with the GR that it deserves an upgrade. The latest version is similar to mine, other than the addition of WiFi connectivity. But, there’s a Ricoh GRIII due early 2019 that’s going to be smaller and have a higher resolution sensor. The perfect camera, for me, might become more perfect.

Tips: Better travel photos

No names, but I once sat through a slideshow of someone’s travels that included 300 images. About 50 in, I realized they had dumped their memory card and included every, single shot including those that were out of focus or blurred. It made for a long evening. 

When we remember our travels, we focus more on that experience than how we represent it to others. So we can gloss over too many pictures that show little or have technical problems. What’s in our minds overrides what’s on a screen.

A gilet jaune protestor at Place de Republique, during the winter 2018 protests in Paris.

So how do you level up your travel photography game? Here’s how:

  1. Start with the audience’s point of view. Remember, they may not have been there. Your photos are telling a story about the place and your experience. Let that guide you when you’re shooting and selecting photos.
  2. When shooting, find an interesting point of view. This usually means getting closer to your subject than you think you should. If you’re shooting with a camera with zoom lens, don’t use the reach of your telephoto as a crutch. Get close, then get even closer. Shoot the entire scene that’s in front of you to provide context, then focus on details that help tell a richer story.
  3. Edit. Ruthlessly. For me, this is a multistep process. First, I weed out shots with technical problems. Second, I quickly pick the frames that are worth considering. Third, I take a harder look at the first frames I’ve selected, and weed those down into a smaller set. Finally, I do some minor editing (color correction, cropping, etc.) and then take a last look at the set. Anything that doesn’t seem necessary goes into the reject pile. By the time I’m finished, fewer than 5% of the shots I took remain to be shown or published online. Often, the number is far smaller.
  4. Organize your shots. I like to present photos by theme, so they make sense to people who see them. 

What about gear? I’ll touch on that later, but for now think about process. How you work matters more than the tools you use.