Olympus XA

I have actually acquired two of these interesting compact rangefinder cameras recently. The first was purchased for $15 at an Albuquerque thrift store. Everything seemed to work perfectly, but I only discovered when I got the camera home that there was a small blob of fungus on the inside center of the rear lens. Getting to the innards of an XA lens is probably beyond my DIY capabilities. The fungus may not be a serious detriment to sharpness, but it does somewhat dampen my enthusiasm for using the camera.

The second XA came by way of Craigslist, also at a cost of $15, and also with a small problem -- though a fixable one in this case. The lens was clean and the shutter seemed to work well, but the slide-open cover was not clicking into place properly in the closed and opened positions. Some close examination revealed that a little steel roller was missing from under the top of the cover. So, the original XA became a donor camera, and I was able to restore Camera No.2 to full working order. I'm looking forward to getting to know it better.