Size - they don't come any smaller

Shape - rounded and easy on the pocket. beautiful to hold and feel.

Quality - beautifully made. metal where it should be and plastic where it should be

Lens - very high quality glass coated multi-element

Shutter - quiet very slow to very fast

Shutter Release - electronic feather touch for zero shake and oh so red

Viewfinder - bright and clear

Film - real 35mm

Cover - one slide to reveal another to fully cover

Tripod Bush - for glorious available light

Reliability - so robust they go on and on. the more worn the better.

Flash - not their best point but OK

Colour - black noir cool

Feel - cool metal rounded like a sculpture

Price - £35 for a good XA2. just laughable

Competition - the fiddley Minox, the overrated Leica CL. the IXUS - beauty skin deep.

"...the limitations of photograhy are in yourself, for what we see is only what we are"

Ernst Haas