Olympus

Japanese company Olympus is best known for photographic equipment, as well as binoculars and voice recorders. Its product range is, however, much broader than this and includes printers, microscopes, endoscopes, professional laparoscopes, and other scientific instruments and medical devices.

The first Olympus products

Olympus was founded by Takeshi Yamashita in Japan in 1919, under the name of Takachiho Seisakusho, which was later renamed Olympus. A year later, the company produced its first product – a microscope.

The first camera lenses

Olympus began expanding its activities to include the production of photographic cameras in 1936, with the development of their first prototype camera lens. Olympus lenses were given the name Zuiko, which was chosen by the company's employees in a competition. In the same year, the first Olympus camera, the Semi Olympus, was launched. The first truly innovative camera design was the PEN series in 1959, however. These icnonic half-frame cameras were more compact and easier to carry than other products at the time.

New trends in the SLR category

The same team of engineers also developed the Olympus OM 35mm SLR, which set new standards in the SLR category. These models were compact and featured groundbreaking technology. Together with Kodak, Olympus also developed the ¾ standard for digital SLR cameras in 2002. Olympus still uses the Zuiko name for its SLR and compact lenses today.