Olympus XA4 Macro, Take Your Pick

Analog Diary: Film photography favorites,Take Your Pick, images with a vintage Olympus XA4 Macro, a pocket-sized 35mm film capsule camera with a wide 28mm f/3.5 Zuiko lens and unique 0.3-meter macro focusing capability.

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The final post on a mini-series with images from the Olympus XA4 at the Ramadan Bazaar, a series which took off with Squaring the 28mm, All Set and Ready, The Ladies Are All Smiles, and finally, this post. Though captured on a street-smart 28mm F3.5 lens of the Olympus XA4 on a single roll of negative film during a single outing, the images were squared off to the 1:1 aspect ratio from their original 3:2 via the desktop image post-processor.

The square format, or images in the 1:1 aspect ratio, is a beautiful format to work with. It works well when you are trying to simplify the composition by eliminating superfluous elements or empty spaces. The composition itself can do away with the much-vaunted one-third rule, placing the subject in the center of a square frame, for example, or close to the edge, works just as well.

Olympus XA4 Macro

As a street photographer's camera goes by, the capsule-style Olympus XA4 35mm film camera might be just the right choice for you. The camera is fitted with a 28mm F3.5 super sharp focal length lens and is highly recommended for landscapes, people at work, at play, or when and where you can get right into their midst.

Olympus XA4 Macro

The camera reverts the focus distance back to the optimum 3 meters when you close and re-open the capsule cover, sets the AE system on automatically, and you are ready to shoot the instant you slide back the capsule cover.

Olympus XA4 Macro, Ladies Are All Smiles

Analog Diary: Film photography favorites, Ladies Are All Smiles, images with a vintage Olympus XA4 Macro, a pocket-sized 35mm film capsule camera with a wide 28mm f/3.5 Zuiko lens and unique 0.3-meter macro focusing capability.

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I am still following up on the images of Squaring the 28mm, which was posted way back over a year ago, and the more recent All Set and Ready. The scene was at the Ramadan Bazaar, and the camera was, of course, the Olympus XA4 Macro. The images sort of grew me as I went through them repeatedly, and it all seems fitting with the square 1:1 image aspect ratio that I am posting them in.

The Olympus XA4 Macro, as you know it, came fitted with a Zuiko 28mm F3.5 lens, which is about the best, and is a highly recommended focal length for street photography. Considered a wide-angle lens, using a 28mm lens means that you have to get in close to the subject, or go for the scenery, which is not always the best solution.

Cropping the images back to the square, while removing the superfluous ones, helps to simplify the composition. You can also do away with the 'rule-of-thirds,' and with extraneous elements removed, and adjusting the frame to capture only the strongest elements of the image, you might end up with an image worth presenting.

Olympus XA4 Macro

Elements that are prominent in the square format are shapes and lines. Shapes, unlike in the one-third rule, can be placed centrally in the composition, while triangulated lines make the composition stronger as they pull the viewer’s eye through the frame. With the 28mm lens, getting good bokeh shots is naturally out of the question, and you may also get stumped when going for a balanced composition.

Olympus XA4 Macro, All Set and Ready

Analog Diary: Film photography favorites, All Set and Ready, images with a vintage Olympus XA4 Macro, a pocket-sized 35mm film capsule camera with a wide 28mm f/3.5 Zuiko lens and unique 0.3-meter macro focusing capability.

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A long time coming, this belated post should have been posted much earlier, and not too long after the initial Analog Diary: Squaring the 28mm, Olympus XA4 post. Images were from the same bazaar environment, with this post focusing on the pairs or individuals who were setting their stalls up, ready for the crowd that was due. While these images show that the crews are only of the male gender, they are not necessarily so.

Different from the original Olympus XA, the only true rangefinder camera of the series, the Olympus XA4 Macro is fitted with a wide-angle 28mm 1:3.5 lens with close focus capability, thus the Macro designation, which is at 0.3 meters (12 inches).

Standard with the camera is a lanyard cord that can be used to measure this distance. Flash units are optional between the A11 and the A16, which use 2xAA batteries instead of one, as found on the A11.

Olympus XA4 Macro

Keep the notion of the macro mode aside, and you will find that the XA4 is a great street shooter as well. Though the lens, at 1:3.5, may be rather slow, the 28mm focal length lens is perfect for street photography.

Olympus XA4 Macro, Squaring the 28mm

Analog Diary: Film photography favorites, images with a vintage Olympus XA4 Macro, a highly coveted, pocket-sized 35mm film capsule camera with a wide 28mm f/3.5 Zuiko lens and unique 0.3-meter macro focusing capability.

<< Click on image for enlarged Lightbox display >>

The Ramadan Bazaar was in full swing when I took the opportunity to do a bit of hipster-style street shooting with a couple of cameras that I have. Went down to the Bazaar earlier with the Olympus Trip 35 and finished a roll of film in no time at all. This time around, it was with the Olympus XA4, with its f/3.5 28mm lens, and a roll of Fujifilm Superia 200.

Although the 28mm is highly recommended as the best focal length for street photography, getting the best out of it needs more than just shooting it on a day out or on just a roll of film. Looks like a 28mm lens is quite a hard beast to handle on the streets, and learning to do well with it is still a long way from going for me.

Olympus XA 4 Macro

Cropping the images back to the square, as I have done here, overcame a few shortcomings, and I managed to save a few of the shots, as you can see from the post here. Aside from keeping the image simple within the square, with the focus on the subject, cropping helps remove distracting elements from within the image frame. Doing it in black-and-white adds to the timelessness of the image while keeping away the distraction of colors and bringing back the human element.