[TwoUptons]

I'd certainly KEEP my XA over my PC35AFM for all those reasons. But I just posted a couple shots in the "show us your film shots" thread, one with the T2 and one with the Pentax. They're only two examples and I've frames that more closely resemble one another but I hate posting comparative shots on my Flickr very often. All that to say, the T2 missed focus 75% of the time and at the end of the day, that unscientific little test had me weirdly preferring the shots from a (currently) $50 camera over a $1500 one.

The XA would have made a shot better than them both. I love that thing's rendering, don't get me wrong.

Ha. Yeah, in my collection of "modern" compacts (newer than the Retinas), I have decent enough optics to calm myself down whenever I think I want one of the "premium compacts"...

Between those two and the Petri Color 35, I have small and sharp handled.
And my wife will let me borrow her Hi-Matic if I want really good optics in a camera bigger than most of my SLRs

Eric

[Thwyllo]

There are two very different marketplaces for film cameras - I have a toe in one pool and a foot in the other! Your average hipster loves their plastic point and shoot and I have dabbled buying things like a Yashica Electro 35 GX or the Rollei XE35, whike other people prefer built-like-a-tank cameras like Nikkormat, Konica Autoreflex, Olympus OM1 and so on. I have also been building up a stash of good quality sub-50 mm prime lenses because the mirrorless crowd are ensuring that these lenses are getting a new lease of life with prices climbing accordingly.

But I also have a significant collection of keepers, as well as a Bronica sq-ai outfit, and I have to say that going back to my film days has given me a new lease of life as far as photography is concerned.

While a point and shoot can give you the lomographic experience what it invariably will not give you is the joy of going back to square one and working out your exposures manually, which in turn makes you think far more deeply about what you are are photographing. I too once brought a Yashica T4 brand new and frankly it's beyond me why anybody would be stupid enough to pay north of 500 euros for that camera today!

[RandyE]

I had an Olympus XA2 camera in the 1980s and 1990s. The lens was sharp, the focal length was useful, the focusing was fast and accurate rangefinder. It was small, ready to use instantly, and could be carried anywhere. Because it didn't have a protruding lens, people tended not to think of it as a 'serious camera' although the images produced were often quite wonderful. (this is an online pic of an XA, only slightly different)



I usually had it loaded with slide film, almost always Kodachrome. Prints of a vacation to the Canary Islands are still on my wall, from that tiny camera that could go everywhere.

If digital weren't an option and the main choice today, that's likely the very camera I'd go back to -- the one always with me as opposed to a shoulder bag of DSLR things. Of course, I have more time for lugging around DSLR things today. But one reason I've lately become enamored of the KP is that it's small and quite flexible, especially with a 40 XS or other pancake.

I can certainly see the appeal of the various small Olympus cameras. Their lenses were quite good for their price and size. My aunt was a professional photographer back in the film days. She used Hasselblad and Olympus cameras.

A friend recently gave me the Olympus XA2 with flash after telling me that he would no longer shoot film. I recently sold a Nikon One Touch as well as a Canon FTBn that belonged to my father in law, and have enjoyed sharing my film experience with the younger buyers. They both expressed an interest in street photography.

[andrewd]

A lightweight plastic point and shoot beats any SLR in the pocketability department.

IMO to be truly pocketable a camera must also be lightweight
therefore the Pentax M series, Olympus OM etc are disqualified.

My even smaller Contax T and Petri Color 35 cameras easily fit my coat inside chest pocket
however it is real unpleasant to have those lumps of metal banging against my chest all day...

Chris

To be truly pocketable a camera needs to be the size of an iphone or less in my opinion, unless you wear really baggy clothes which doesn’t suit my fashion tastes . No compact 35mm camera qualifies. The only film camera that would fit in my pocket comfortably would be a minox subminiature.

From a comfort point of view an MX on a strap with a 40mm f2.8 lens is as good as it gets for me. I use a peak design strap so I can wear it across my chest and it sits just above my hip without bouncing around when I walk.

[Matthew]

My daughter was recently looking for a film camera to try. Seems it is fashionable to have a retro camera. So I got out all our old film cameras, Canon, Nikon and Minolta SLRs and a couple of pocket cameras. She immediately gravitated to the Olympus mju II. It really was a cool design, robust yet petite. And it was still working once we popped a new battery into it.
I do remember being somewhat disappointed with this camera when we bought it new. It did not like using 36 frame film roles. It would get a couple of shots in and then just retract the film back into the canister. But it was such a cool design with a nice sharp lens, I can understand that it became a classic.

[LesDMess]

Ha. Yeah, in my collection of "modern" compacts (newer than the Retinas), I have decent enough optics to calm myself down whenever I think I want one of the "premium compacts"...

Between those two and the Petri Color 35, I have small and sharp handled.
And my wife will let me borrow her Hi-Matic if I want really good optics in a camera bigger than most of my SLRs

Eric

I first acquired a Nikon 35Ti because of the cool analog display . . .



Very good performing lens and the aperture priority mode worked well. But every now and then you may need to reset the display as it gets unsynchronized. A little bit of a nuisance so I got rid of it but kept the Epic . . .

[Eyewanders]

I first acquired a Nikon 35Ti because of the cool analog display . . .



Very good performing lens and the aperture priority mode worked well. But every now and then you may need to reset the display as it gets unsynchronized. A little bit of a nuisance so I got rid of it but kept the Epic . . .

Those 28 and 35 Ti just somehow bother the heck out of me. I love analog dials, VU meters, etc... But it just seemed so much of a gimmick given the cameras operation/design and their placement atop the body. Granted they look great and are accurate, but those things sold new for silly amounts of money compared with a Ricoh GR model (better handling and performance), and today they sell for more than that. It's bizarre.

[yucatanPentax]

A friend recently gave me the Olympus XA2 with flash after telling me that he would no longer shoot film. I recently sold a Nikon One Touch as well as a Canon FTBn that belonged to my father in law, and have enjoyed sharing my film experience with the younger buyers. They both expressed an interest in street photography.

I hope you're enjoying the Olympus XA2. Before digital, it was one of my most used cameras of all time.

[tncowdaddy]

While a point and shoot can give you the lomographic experience what it invariably will not give you is the joy of going back to square one and working out your exposures manually, which in turn makes you think far more deeply about what you are are photographing.

Agreed. That kind of thinking transforms "snapshots" into "portraits". You can move from capturing a moment to telling a story. That's the kind of thing that sent me down the rabbit hole about a decade ago.

---------- Post added 05-18-22 at 08:17 AM ----------

I first acquired a Nikon 35Ti because of the cool analog display . . .

That is pretty neat!

[ChrisPlatt]

Olympus XA2/XA3 are great. I like mine better than my fiddly XA.

Chris

[LesDMess]

Those 28 and 35 Ti just somehow bother the heck out of me. I love analog dials, VU meters, etc... But it just seemed so much of a gimmick given the cameras operation/design and their placement atop the body. Granted they look great and are accurate, but those things sold new for silly amounts of money compared with a Ricoh GR model (better handling and performance), and today they sell for more than that. It's bizarre.

There is no comparison with the Ricoh GR really as mine came with the rare leather case . . .





Of course the Ti means titanium which automatically doubles the price! I bought it for a pretty penny and sold it just a few months later for even more. I would've kept it if not for that nuisance resetting the display.

[mtgmansf]

There is no comparison with the Ricoh GR really as mine came with the rare leather case . . .





Of course the Ti means titanium which automatically doubles the price! I bought it for a pretty penny and sold it just a few months later for even more. I would've kept it if not for that nuisance resetting the display.

Too bad. Titanium over plastic any day of the year...
How about a compact digital GR made out of titanium? Now that would be a great, special edition.

[Matthew]

Too bad. Titanium over plastic any day of the year...
How about a compact digital GR made out of titanium? Now that would be a great, special edition.

At the risk of seriously sidetracking the OP...
Titanium is not always best (although it probably always trumps plastic). Does anyone remember when Apple started making their laptops in titanium?
They often broke. Then they shifted to their aluminium/ceramic designs which lasted much better, particularly the unibody designs. And they were much cheaper.
I'm currently typing this on my 11+ year old aluminium model which has survived more or less intact (at least the case).

[ChrisPlatt]

I had a Contax T barn-door folder. Top and bottom covers were made of titanium.
I bought it with an impact damaged top cover which I had replaced.

Despite its small size I found it too heavy a lump to live comfortably in a coat chest pocket.

Chris