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Comment by ponker | Hacker News Reader

I kept my Olympus XA in my baggy jeans pocket almost all the time.

I tended to have a camera with me for years too--though I really slowed down after I no longer had easy access to a B&W darkroom. But that wasn't the mainstream case.

To Americans, the Japanese taking snapshots at every opportunity (including business meetings--OK we mostly don't do that) was notably odd behavior. Today, I'm sure just about any random nationality takes far more.

I have lots of dedicated camera equipment but most of that is for event, travel, or dedicated photography of some sort. If I know I'm going to be on a trip where I'm going to just be taking random memory pictures, I mostly just bring my phone.

What's the closest to a digital equivalent of the Olympus XA, i.e., a compact rangefinger, maybe with the same sort of clamshell design?

For a rangefinder style, there's the Fuji X100 series (the latest being X100V). They are not really pocketable though. But for a big sensor compact that is truly pocketable, nothing beats the Ricoh GR series with its APS-C sensor (the latest being the Ricoh GR III). The older model (GR II) can still be had for under $400, which is a screaming value.

The Sony RX1R II and Leica Q2 are better, but rather expensive.

Nothing that's a rangefinder AFAIK. There's something like a Fujifilm X-E3 with the pancake lens. So more like a Leica form factor than an Olympus XA. There are also the high-end P&Ss. But I haven't run across anything that gives you both the control and the pocketability of an Olympus XA.

The FUJIFILM X100 probably comes closest to rangefinder translated to digital with a fixed lens. But a bit bigger again. And it's IMO a whole lot of money for a specialized camera.

Probably an Olympus XZ? I'm not sure if they ever made a successor to it, but still it's a great camera if you're cool not having a touchscreen.

Well any kind of random consumer point and shoot like a PowerShot will give you equivalent image quality to the XA in an even smaller package. But the design elegance and "coolness" of the XA you will not find in digital. The self-timer lever acts as a little "foot" that stabilizes the camera when you're resting it somewhere for a self-timer picture!

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