Experimenting with Fujifilm Superia X-tra 800 film

Olympus XA

As I make the transition from old-camera collector to old-camera photographer, I now tend to keep film in at least one of my favorite old cameras so I’m always ready to take photos.

Such was the case with my Olympus XA late this summer. I had bought a four-pack of almost-expired Fujifilm Superia X-tra 800 on clearance at Meijer. After putting a roll of it through my Pentax ME earlier in the summer I wanted to see how it handled in my XA.

I just had the film processed and was especially pleased with a couple shots I took at the Indiana State Fair in August. This first one is a dusk shot looking toward the midway. The extra two stops the ISO 800 film gave me over my usual ISO 200 film really helped here.

State Fair at dusk

I found this young man feeding a goat in the petting zoo. I was glad to be able to make more exposures inside thanks to the Fuji 800. I cropped this image down from the original shot – the XA’s 35mm lens is on the wide side, and so isn’t ideal for close work.

Young man feeding

The XA handled flawlessly as always, and was unobtrusive. Whenever I hang an SLR around my neck people notice I’m taking pictures; not so with the tiny XA. My only wish for these photos is that they were a little sharper and a little less grainy.

My Olympus XA2 is also a fine performer. Read about it here.


Comments

4 responses to “Experimenting with Fujifilm Superia X-tra 800 film”

  1. Michael Avatar
    Michael

    If you want sharper and finer grain then use 200 or 400. :P

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Wow, I never would have thought of that!!!!!!!1!!

  2. Mike Avatar

    Nice work. Makes me want to load some film in my XA.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Thanks Mike. My XA is always nearby ready to go; it’s a great camera to take along when the impulse strikes.

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