The shell of an Olympus XA2, the way it slides open to reveal the lens, is much like opening the door to your own surprise party. A fun, compact camera that's akin to a point and shoot, the XA2 isn't much different from its popular predecessor, the XA. It maintains many similarities: it has the same compact sliding front cover design to protect the lens and turn off the meter when not in use, the ISO settings range from 25 to 800, it contains an incredible light meter, and works with all the Olympus A11, A16, and the A1L flashes.⠀ ⠀

The main differences between the XA and this XA2 is that the XA is a rangefinder camera utilizing aperture priority exposure, whereas the XA2 works with zone focusing and full program exposure. This makes the XA2 more suitable for pointing and shooting - perfect for those quick street snaps, or taking with you on a bike tour, where space and time could be an issue. The XAs are the perfect palm-sized camera, so there's almost no excuse not to have one.⠀ ⠀

If you're looking for a more cost-effective alternative to, say, a Ricoh GR1 or even the XA, then it would behoove you to look for an XA2.

za/sd

We're not sure what you would call a grouping of Olympus XA/XA2 cameras. Our vote would be for calling them a "Maitani" of XAs.

In this case, perhaps an XA avalanche...

⠀ ⠀

Even if the XA remains our favorite pocket camera, we've also been impressed by the XA2.  

 It uses a zone focusing scheme that we don't like as much as rangefinder focusing but if used right, it is simpler and faster. The XA2 also has full program exposure, so no more manual control over the aperture.

The XA2 also has an f3.5 instead of f2.8 lens. So in a certain sense, it is a bit of a stripped-down version of the XA, but at the same time it makes these cameras a less expensive way of getting into the XA system and if you are not as interested in the manual controls of the XA to begin with, then the XA2 might be more your speed.⁣⠀ ⁣⠀

za/js

We love the Olympus XA.  It is one of our favorite pocket 35mm rangefinders of all time.  To a lesser extent, we love the XA2 as well.  It lacks the rangefinder, favoring a simpler zone focus instead and doesn't give one aperture control like its predecessor, but it is still a solid little compact camera.  Even better, they came in different colors: red, blue, and white, in addition to the standard black. 

za/sd

The Olympus XA series of cameras are wonderful pocket cameras for the urban wanderer.  Olympus made five models in this series and here is a brief run down of the models and their differences:⠀ ⠀

XA - The progenitor of the lot and, hands down, our favorite model is the XA.   This camera has a really high quality 35mm f/2.8 lens, aperture priority metering, rangefinder focusing and a super light touch shutter button.  We highly recommend this camera.⠀ ⠀

XA2 (pictured here) - This camera is a simplified version of the XA.  The XA2 has zone focusing, full program exposure and a simple but nice 35mm f/3.5 lens.⠀ ⠀

XA1 - Yes, this camera did come after the XA2.  The XA1 is the simplest of the lot and our least favorite.  Focus is fixed.  ISO choices are limited to 100 or 400.  The lens is a 35mm f/4.  It also has a plunger-style shutter button, instead of the feather touch of other models.⠀ ⠀

XA3 - This camera is an upgrade over the XA2, with an extended ISO range up to 1600 and DX coding.  The XA3 also has a backlight switch.  Other than these modifications, it is the same cameras as the XA2.⠀ ⠀

XA4 - This camera is an evolution of the XA2/XA3.  The XA4 has a 28mm f/3.5 lens that could focus to macro distances of as close as 12 inches. ⠀ ⠀

za/sd