The Olympus camera - history

The Olympus Camera Company known so well today for its innovative compact and single lens reflex digital cameras was founded in October 1919 as Takachiko Seisakucho. Its first products were microscopes used in the medical and scientific fields and it is the health industry which has been a driving force behind many products launched by the company since. One of these, the gastro camera, was a world first in 1951.

Since 1936, photography also played a major part in the company's fortunes. That year, Olympus introduced a folding bellows camera, the 'Semi Olympus Model I', fitted with a 75mm f/4.5 Zuiko lens in a German Compur shutter. Model II came a year later with a Japanese shutter by Koho, as well as one of the rarest cameras ever made; the Olympus Standard was a rangefinder model with interchangeable lenses for 4X5cm format negatives.

In 1942, Takachiko Seisakucho became Takachiko Kogaku Kogyo Co Ltd., and by 1949, Olympus Optical Co Ltd. Throughout the 1940s and 50s, folding cameras with names like Olympus 6, Olympus Chrome 6, Chrome Six II, III and IV with shutters made by Koho or Copal were made. By now Olympus was also manufacturing 35mm cameras with fixed lenses in Seikosha shutters, followed by more sophisticated versions incorporating coupled rangefinders and of which the most famous was probably the Olympus Wide-S of 1957.The company also produced a series of excellent twin-lens Olympus Flex cameras using medium format film, the Flex B1 having the first f/2.8 viewing lens to complement its excellent 75mm six element Zuiko taking lens.

At the end of the 1950s, Olympus introduced the first of a series of half-frame film camera models which lasted into the 1980s. The first was the Olympus Pen with a fixed 28mm Zuiko lens and Copal shutter. Half-frame cameras produced an 18mm X 24mm negative on 35mm film, enabling 72 frames instead of the regular 36 exposures on a standard cassette. The format became a best seller. To meet the demands of enthusiasts, Olympus designed and produced the half frame Pen F slr with interchangeable lenses in 1963; instead of a pentaprism, a porro-prism viewing system was used. The Pen FT was an improved version incorporating a Cds ttl meter.

The most significant 35mm model for photography enthusiasts was the Olympus M-1 single lens reflex camera first shown at photokina in 1972. It was quickly renamed OM-1 so as not to conflict with the Leica-M name registered by Leitz in 1959. The OM series radically changed slr cameras as the OM's designer Yoshihisa Maitani reduced the size and weight of a standard 35mm slr by up to 30%. OM models included the OM-1, OM-2N, OM-2SP, OM-10, the mechanical OM-3 and electronic OM-4 with versions of the last two made with titanium finishes as the OM-3T and OM-4T. When Olympus launched the first OM-1 model it was with a wide range of new Zuiko lenses and accessories; it quickly captured the imagination of many world class photojournalists. The Olympus XA, a clam-shell full frame compact 35mm rangefinder launched in 1980, gave high quality results and was available in different colours.

The 1986 Olympus OM77AF was the company's first 35mm slr venture into auto-focus with a camera which employed a ttl phase detection CCD sensor and multi-programmed exposure mode. It lacked the robustness and speed demanded by pros and the company soon turned its attention to developing the IS-1, an integrated compact bridge type 35mm camera using AF technology with a 35-135mm auto zoom lens. The 1991 compact mju-1 became a runaway success, with more than 20 million units shipped around the world by 2001.

With the invention of digital image capture (Kodak, 1974.), Olympus became one of the first manufacturers in 1996 to introduce a digital camera everyone could use. The Olympus Camedia C-800L was the forerunner of a range of ever increasing megapixel sized models. The Camedia E-10 and later E-20 are well made bridge cameras with variable angle LCD monitors and superb Olympus AF Zoom lenses. With a wide range of accessories, including telephoto and wide angle conversion lenses, vertical grips and external flash guns combined with the Camedia P-400, P-200 or P-330NE dye sublimation printers, enthusiasts were well equipped.

Not content to rest on its laurels, the company used its wealth of photographic technology expertise to develop another success. The E-1, launched in 2003, was a Four-Thirds format system digital slr with Full Frame Transfer CCD. Excellent image quality was obtained from a sensor less than half the size of a standard 35mm full frame using purpose designed Zuiko lenses. Olympus and several other companies in the Four-Thirds group established an open standard for the lens mount. The 10 megapixel E-3 semi-pro slr was launched in 2008, with smaller models like the E-400, E-420, E-520 and E-620 expanding the range.

More information on Olympus camera models

Olympus PEN Half frame cameras