Five Frames With An Olympus XA1, Soft, Sharp, and Saturated

Analog Diary - Film photography favorites with an Olympus XA1, a fun, and exciting point-and-shoot 35mm compact.

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The Olympus XA1 has only 2 film ISO (ASA) speed settings - ISO 100 and ISO 400. While ISO 100 speed film has finer grain, ISO 400 film has light-sensitive materials which are larger in grain sizes and requires less light for proper exposure. Photos, however, may show up with visible grain.

Olympus XA 1

When using the faster ISO 400 speed film, in a typical bright light situation, you can get away from motion blur and achieve great depth of field as the fast film speed lets you shoot with a faster shutter speed and smaller aperture.

One of the fun things you can do with the Olympus XA1, when you are stuck with the slower ISO 100 speed film, and where the light is insufficient for you to get a properly exposed shot, is to use the exposure lock trick.

Olympus XA 1

What you need to do is the first point the camera at the brighter light source, half-press the shutter release to activate the metering, then turn the camera to frame the composition and take the shot.

The shots, of course, will have a varying degree of underexposure, which can be enhanced with post-processing.

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