Olympus Corporation

Encyclopedia : O : OL : OLY : Olympus Corporation

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This article refers to a Japanese camera maker. For other meanings, see Olympus (disambiguation).

(TYO: [7733]  ) is a Japanese company specializing in optics and imaging. Olympus was founded in 1919, and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.  Its United States' operations are based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. European headquarters are in Hamburg, Germany.

The company is named after Mount Olympus, the home of the gods in Greek mythology.

Olympus has a history of groundbreaking camera and lens design. The first truly innovative camera series from Olympus was the PEN models, launched in 1959. They were half-frame format, and it allowed them to be very compact and portable for their time. Half-frame format means that it takes 72 pictures of 18x24mm format on a standard 36 exposure roll of film.

The PEN system design team was led by Yoshihisa Maitani. With the same design spirit, it later created the OM system, a full frame professional 35mm SLR system designed to compete with Nikon and Canon's best sellers. The OM system introduced a new trend towards more compact cameras, being much smaller than its competitors and presenting innovative design features such as the through the lens flash automation. Eventually the system included 14 different bodies and approximately 60 lenses. The range of Zuiko lenses was itself noted for its compactness, and beat some records of aperture for their focal length.

However, Olympus did not move into the autofocus market in the way their competitors did, and this ultimately led to their decline as a maker of professional camera systems. Their compact cameras have retained their great popularity, though, and in recent years their digital cameras have won great acclaim. Olympus is the designer of the Four Thirds System standard for digital SLR camera design and development, and the Olympus E-1 is their current professional DSLR.

In 1983, Olympus, along with Canon, branded a range of video recording equipment manufactured by JVC, and called it "Olympus Video Photography", even employing renowned photographer Terance Donovan to promote the range. A second version of the system was available the year after, but this was Olympus' last foray into the world of consumer video equipment until digital cameras became popular.

Since the beginning, the company has also been a manufacturer of microscopes and optics for specialised needs, such as medical use. The company also invented the Microcassette.

See also

• List of Olympus products
• List of digital camera brands
• xD-Picture Card

References

• [Olympus Mailing List]

External links

• [Olympus Global]

 

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