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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Good old days (1 Viewer)

This thread prompted me to dig out my favourite of the cameras which I have owned.

The Olympus XA

I think this is a masterpiece of design with a great specification:
Coupled rangefinder
Aperture priority semi-automatic operation with viewfinder shutter speed display
A superb Zuiko 2.8 lens
Exposure compensation
ASA 800 film speed
Matching detachable A11 flash unit

This was all contained in a truly compact body with a sliding lens cover which acted as an on/off switch and in the closed position allowed the camera to slip into a shirt pocket.

It was a favourite with professional photographers as a back up to their SLRs, which could be carried in the pocket at all times. In the right hands (not mine) the results were spectacular. I seem to recall David Bailey featuring prominently in the advertising campaigns.

I attach photos which show the lens cover in the open and shut position. The aperture control at the side of the lens. The range finder lever below the lens. The swivelling three position lever on the base which controlled exposure compensation, battery check and self timer. In the latter mode the the lever was at right angles to the body and acted as a stabilizer.

I never use it now but would be reluctant to part with it and occasionally take it out to appreciate its wonderful tactile form.

Ron

A Classic!
 
That 350mm f2.8 looks very interesting, I think I'll keep on eye on eBay for one of those for my E510.

Pete

Edit.......bloody hell there's one on there now!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OLYMPUS-ZUIKO...otography_Film_Cameras_ET?hash=item56368bfa0d
Sold for £1,900.00! Is that the going rate for that sort of stuff? It seems a lot to pay for something you've never seen. They say it's in mint condition, and seem genuine, but can you trust the opinion of someone who seems to mostly sell clothing?

I notice that the buyer has left good feedback for the item, so his gamble has paid off.
 
A bid of £25 on ebay last week bought me another golden oldie (which arrived yesterday), an Olympus 2500 fixed lens Digital SLR, 2.5 megapixels and a 3 x zoom, interesting to realise that circa 2000 it would have set its buyer back something in the order of £1,000, today a similar sum would buy you a Olympus E620 or a Sony a550 and a reasonable birding lens. I wonder what a £25 bid in 2019 will bring?

SW
 
A bid of £25 on ebay last week bought me another golden oldie (which arrived yesterday), an Olympus 2500 fixed lens Digital SLR, 2.5 megapixels and a 3 x zoom, interesting to realise that circa 2000 it would have set its buyer back something in the order of £1,000, today a similar sum would buy you a Olympus E620 or a Sony a550 and a reasonable birding lens. I wonder what a £25 bid in 2019 will bring?
A fixed lens SLR? I never realised there was such a thing, digital or not.

People seem to call anything with a removable lens an SLR, I wonder how they'd cope if someone decided to put a mirror in a compact camera now.

Interesting that the dpreview review of it referred to it as not being a true SLR because it didn't have interchangeable lenses. The word "mirror" doesn't occur once in the whole review, but it must have one.
 
A fixed lens SLR? I never realised there was such a thing, digital or not.

People seem to call anything with a removable lens an SLR, I wonder how they'd cope if someone decided to put a mirror in a compact camera now.

Interesting that the dpreview review of it referred to it as not being a true SLR because it didn't have interchangeable lenses. The word "mirror" doesn't occur once in the whole review, but it must have one.

Olympus did several, similar SLRs c1000, c1400, 2500, E20 at least, all were SLRs (the mirror is the relevant item to make it an SLR, not whether or not the lens is interchangeable), I had a c1000 850k resolution and 3x zoom. Minolta actually did a non-interchangeable lens SLR (using 110 film) circa 1977 and of course a couple of years later Pentax did their 110 which did have interchangeable lenses.

With the likes of 18 to 250 lenses and the microfours thirds format it would not surprise me if similarly specified cameras with non-interchangeable lenses do not re-appear using micro four thirds or similar sized sensors.
 
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