This 40-Year-Old Camera Still Shoots Stunning Black-and-White Landscapes

The Olympus XA2 is a 35mm clamshell camera from the mid-1980s with exactly three focus positions and zero manual exposure control. That sounds like a recipe for frustration, but Steve O'Nions makes a compelling case that those limitations are exactly what makes it work.

Coming to you from Steve O'Nions, this unhurried video follows O'Nions on a walk through the Welsh countryside near Barmouth, shooting with the Olympus XA2 loaded with Rollei Infrared 400 film. He rates it at ISO 250 given the bright conditions early in the day. The XA2's 35mm f/3.5 lens handles exposure automatically, and O'Nions sets focus by feel as he walks, almost always landing on infinity. The result is a camera that genuinely disappears into the walk rather than demanding attention, and the footage bears that out.

The choice of Rollei Infrared 400 is worth paying attention to. Even without a filter, which the XA2 can't accept anyway, the film produces punchy skies and bold clouds thanks to its strong red sensitivity. O'Nions shoots the whole day in overcast and eventually wet conditions, and the drama in the resulting images is hard to argue with. The grain, slightly accentuated by scanning with a digital camera, adds texture that suits the moody Welsh landscape. Telegraph poles against a gray sky, misty woodland paths, and waterlogged hills all translate into images that feel genuinely atmospheric rather than technically compromised.

The weather turns properly miserable about halfway through the day. Rain soaks through, the waterproof trousers never made it into the bag, and O'Nions ends up cold, wet, and retreating from the higher ground. What's interesting is how the camera factors into his decision to keep shooting anyway. When the barrier to taking a picture is as low as flipping open a clamshell and pressing a single button, you shoot scenes you'd otherwise walk past. Some of the strongest images in the video come from exactly that situation. There's also an honest look at where the XA2 struggles: slow shutter speeds in dim woodland conditions introduce motion blur, and a visit to an old stone church turns into a minor ordeal involving the camera's 10-second self-timer and a room full of other visitors. O'Nions discusses the focal length debate around compact cameras, specifically the 24mm to 50mm range, and explains why 35mm works particularly well for landscapes given its natural depth of field advantages at slower film speeds.

Check out the video above for the full rundown from O'Nions, including the final images from the day and his thoughts on what he'd do differently next time.