Olympus History

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From a seminar presented at the JCII Camera Museum on Saturday, November 26, 2005 The Olympus Story – From the Olympus OM-1 to the XA Series

If the development staff can give 120% of their power, the technology barrier can be overcome. But make sure your original and interesting ideas are not buried under the barrier of accepted wisdom. An engineering philosophy that called for the development of cameras based on totally new ideas led to the creation of the OM Series, and to the development of a caseless compact camera that won a Good Design Grand Prize. These achievements also helped to build a culture of originality that is part of the Olympus tradition. OM-1 (Planning and editing: Olympus Web Strategy Group)

We had created the Pen FT, the world's first half-size TTL SLR camera, but… After creating half-size cameras, Olympus commits to the development of a 35mm SLR. We decide to create a camera better than Leica, one that easily takes close-ups of flowers or pictures of documents. The advancement of the SLR was the culmination of development efforts by Japanese camera manufacturers. A true system SLR should be compact and have impact. To create products that will capture the hearts and minds of users, you first need to break through the technology barrier. The path to a compact SLR would require the efficient use of underutilized space. The MDN Prototype was the first Olympus SLR designed to be part of a full-featured system. The compact, lightweight OM-1 brings relief to the shoulders of photographers everywhere. My philosophy was the source of my enthusiasm for development. While I was developing the OM, others were worried about the future of 35mm compact cameras. Sifting through 100 ideas while breaking through the barrier of accepted wisdom With a camera you can carry with you everywhere, you'll never miss that once-in-a-lifetime moment again. A caseless, capless camera would be small enough to fit in a breast pocket. The XA was designed to match the preferences of both male and female users. The XA was the first camera to win a Good Design Award, thanks to the appeal of its capless design. My relationship with Olympus is like the relationship between the Monkey King and the Buddha.

Special Lecture part1 From a seminar presented at the JCII Camera Museum on Saturday, October 29, 2005 The Olympus Story – From the Semi-Olympus I to the Pen and Pen F Series

Profile of Yoshihisa Maitani Since boyhood, Yoshihisa Maitani felt an affinity toward cameras and photography. After studying mechanical engineering at university, he joined Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (now Olympus Corporation) in 1956. As a camera designer, he was involved in the development of many cameras that triggered major booms and became milestones in world camera history, including the Olympus Pen (1959), the Olympus Pen F (1963), the Olympus OM-1 (1973) and the Olympus XA (1979).

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