Olympus History

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• History of Cameras
  • 1936-1970
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Olympus continued to develop fully automatic compact cameras with advanced features, such as autofocus (AF), automatic winding, and built-in strobe flash units. The compact camera era reached its zenith with the introduction of zoom lenses. Olympus introduced a succession of high-performance fully automatic zoom cameras with compact, lightweight designs, including the IZM Series, the OZ Series and the μ[mju:] (Stylus) Series.

AZ-1 ZOOM QUARTZDATE

IZM300 QUARTZDATE

O-product

Olympus Ecru

IZM200 QUARTZDATE

IZM220 PANORAMA ZOOM

OZ110 ZOOM

OZ280 PANORAMA ZOOM

LT-1

LT ZOOM 105

AZ-1 ZOOM QUARTZDATE   (1987) The AZ-1 went on sale in 1987 as the first Olympus compact camera with a zoom lens (35mm-70mm).

IZM300 QUARTZDATE   (1988) Launched in 1988, the IZM 300 won the prestigious European Camera of the Year award. It was equipped with a high-resolution 3x zoom lens with a range up to 105mm. There was keen interest in the design of this lens shutter camera, which was first to be equipped with a zoom viewfinder that showed the actual image. The zoom lens perfected through the efforts and creativity of a large team of engineers.

O-product   (1988) Launched in 1988, the O-product was a compact camera with an aluminum body. Its bold design combined a circle and square. There was a detachable strobe unit based on the same design. It was sold as a pre-ordered limited edition of 10,000 units in Japan and 10,000 overseas.

Olympus Ecru   (1991) "Ecru" is French for "unbleached." The name of this concept camera was chosen to symbolize its intended role as a tool for living an intellectually enhanced life as natural as unbleached cloth. This concept is symbolized in the white body of the camera, which was sold as a limited edition of 10,000 units in Japan and 10,000 overseas.

IZM200 QUARTZDATE   (1989) This was the first zoom compact camera developed exclusively by Olympus. Launched in 1989, it was the world's first camera with a flash mode designed to reduce red-eye effect. The development of this technology, which involved repeated preliminary firing of the flash, involved medical studies to confirm the safety of the technique. It was also necessary to test the system with Caucasian subjects, who are especially likely to be affected by the red-eye phenomenon. Other advanced features included a wide range of strobe effects, such as multi-flash, and a remote control system.

IZM220 PANORAMA ZOOM   (1991) Olympus introduced the IZM 220 PANORAMA ZOOM in 1991 as the world's first camera with a panorama mode that could be switched on or off. A simple lever allowed the user to select between full-size or panorama size shots within the same roll of film. There was also a system to change the viewfinder field when the shot size was changed. The launch of the IZM 220 was delayed by one month because the development and processing industry was not ready to handle films containing a mixture of full-size and panorama size pictures. To overcome this problem, it was decided that users should affix stickers to rolls of film that contained both types of shots. These stickers were supplied with the camera.

OZ110 ZOOM   (1992) The OZ Series was introduced with the launch of the OZ 110 ZOOM in 1992. Olympus demonstrated its technical virtuosity by incorporating a high-power zoom lens with a range in excess of 100mm into a body no larger than a single-focus compact camera. Legend has it that the designers modified their target dimensions for the camera based on a reduced copy of the blueprints, giving them an even more ambitious ultra-miniaturization challenge. Numerous OZ Series models were subsequently introduced.

OZ280 PANORAMA ZOOM   (1994) A key feature of the OZ280, which was launched in 1994, was its dramatically enhanced panorama function. It was equipped with a wide zoom lens with a range starting at 28mm and zoom of approximately 3x. The combination of a wide-angle 28mm lens and the panorama function resulted in panoramic shots with an enhanced sense of breadth. In the panorama mode, the view-finder field expanded 1.2 times, allowing visual confirmation of a powerful image field. The stylish design earned a Good Design award in 1994.

LT-1   (1994) Launched in 1994, the LT-1 was an autofocus camera with a unique synthetic leather exterior that linked the body with the camera case. Special molding technology combined the synthetic leather with the molded case to create a leather-finish body that fitted perfectly into the hand. It was available in black, green, brown and burgundy.

LT ZOOM 105   (1997) The LT ZOOM 105 was launched in 1997 as the second camera in the LT Series. It was equipped with a 3x zoom lens with a 38mm-105mm range. The advertising copy in the catalog read as follows. "I am a camera. My name is LT Zoom 105. When people pick me up, they tend to say the word 'nostalgic.'"

* 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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