Olympus History

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• History of Cameras
  • 1936-1970
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Olympus established a tradition of quality manufacturing with the development of its microscope. Olympus continued this tradition through the development of camera lenses, starting in 1934. Two years later the Zuiko lens was born. Zuiko lenses were used in the Semi-Olympus and the Olympus-Six, as well as in the Olympus Reflex 2-lens reflex camera. With these cameras, Olympus laid the foundations of its future role as a camera manufacturer.

Semi-Olympus I

Semi-Olympus II

Olympus Six

Olympus Chrome Six I

Olympus Chrome Six IIIA

Olympus Chrome Six RIIA

Olympus Flex I

Semi-Olympus I   (1936) Launched in 1936, the Semi-Olympus I was the first Olympus camera fitted with the newly developed Zuiko lens, which was mounted on a Semi-Proud body supplied by Proud. It was a high-quality camera priced at ¥105 yen in an era when a typical starting wage was ¥75 yen a month.

Semi-Olympus II   (1938) In 1938, Olympus succeeded in developing its own camera body, in addition to its own lens and shutter mechanism. The launch of the first pure Olympus camera, the Semi-Olympus II was an important milestone. The side-opening design of the pressed sheet-metal body was unusual for a medium-format camera. It also featured a reverse Galileo tubular viewfinder.

Olympus Six   (1940) The Olympus Six was released in 1940. It supported both 6x6 and semi formats and featured a newly designed body and an Olympus-made KOHO shutter with a maximum speed of 1/200 sec. With this camera Olympus established the basic format for subsequent Six-series cameras.

Olympus Chrome Six I   (1948) Olympus resumed camera production after World War II, and in 1948 it launched the Chrome Six, an enhanced version of the Olympus Six. The die-cast body brought significant improvements in precision and strength. All who saw the camera were impressed by the beauty of the body design, highlighted by aventurine chrome plating on the top and bottom surfaces. The growing popularity of photography in this period helped to turn the Chrome Six into a major hit product. Cameras came off the production line at the Suwa Plant in Nagano Prefecture and were packaged the same day and loaded onto trains for overnight delivery to camera stores in Tokyo. Buyers lined up outside the stores awaiting the arrival of each shipment of Chrome Six cameras.

Olympus Chrome Six IIIA   (1951) The Olympus Chrome Six IIIA was launched in 1951 as the successor to the Olympus Chrome Six I. Olympus engineers used all of their expertise to enhance and refine every aspect of the camera. Features included a film surface stabilizer that created a flat surface by pulling both ends of the loaded film. This system, the first of its type in the world, was used in subsequent models and was one of the technologies that earned Olympus cameras an excellent reputation for image clarity.

Olympus Chrome Six RIIA   (1955) Launched in 1955, the Olympus Chrome Six RIIA featured a high-precision uncoupled range-finder and was the most advanced model in the Six series. The body design was also innovative, and the film winder was changed to a lever on the reverse of the body, and an automatic winder stop system was added. This camera, and the V, which had no range-finder, were the last models in the Six series.

Olympus Flex I   (1952) Launched in 1952, the Olympus Flex I was the first twin-lens reflex camera manufactured by Olympus. It was developed in response to a sudden rise in the popularity of twin-lens reflex cameras in postwar Japan. Though Olympus modeled the Flex I on the Rollei Flex, it targeted an even higher level of performance, and the camera incorporated numerous unique Olympus features. A typical starting wage at this time was ¥7,000 yen a month, so the ¥47,000 yen price tag was equivalent to over six months' income for an average worker.

* Other products can be viewed on the product line-up page.

* The information shown is based on information in initial product announcements.

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