Olympus was founded in 1919, in 1920 in Japan for the first time successfully commercialized microscopes; in the field of cancer prevention and treatment plays an extremely important role in the endoscope, also in 1950 by the Olympus in the world for the first time developed. So far, Olympus Corporation has become Japan and the world's precision, one of the representative of optical technology, business areas include medical, imaging, life sciences and industrial three business areas. 2011 November 8, Olympus admitted to using corporate acquisitions to cover up investment losses, the company hid the amount of losses of more than 100 billion yen (about 8.2 billion yuan).
In our country, the recognition of Olympus is mainly in the camera, because in November 2000, this company invested 30 million U.S. dollars in Beijing established Olympus (China) Investment Co., Ltd.(OCI for short).In December 1991, Olympus (Shenzhen) Industry Co., Ltd. was established, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Olympus Group set up in Shenzhen. Specializing in the development, design and manufacture of traditional cameras, digital cameras and other related products (OSZ for short). The first truly revolutionary Olympus camera was the PEN model in 1959, a very compact and lightweight half-cell camera at the time. Half frame meant that 72 photos in 18 × 24 mm format could be taken on a standard 36-sheet film.
The design team for the PEN system was led by Mihisa Yoneya, and in the same spirit of design the team created the OM system, a full-frame, professional 35mm monocular camera that competed with Nikon and Canon for the best sales. the OM system introduced the trend for lighter cameras with its much smaller form factor than its competitors, as well as innovative design features such as the TTL autoflash, and the result was a camera with 14 different bodies and about 60 different camera models. The Zuiko line of lenses itself was famous for its small size and broke some photographic records for its focal length.
But Olympus didn't enter the autofocus market like its competitors, leaving it behind in the AF SLR market. Olympus is now one of the leading manufacturers of digital cameras, and is also the designer of the Four Thirds System, an open specification for the design and development of digital SLR cameras that has been re-designed for digital use. The E-System is based on this specification, and the Olympus E-1 was the first professional digital SLR camera to belong to the E-System, which was released by them in 2003. After that, E-300, E-500, E-330, E-410, E-510 and other bodies were launched (before E-410, there is still an E-400, which is only on sale in Europe and does not have the Live View function), in addition to the unique Super Sonic Wave Filter (SSWF, Super Sonic Wave Filter) to avoid the photographic elements from getting dusty and foreign matter, and after the E-330, the E-1 is the first professional DSLR that belongs to the E-System. In addition to the unique SSWF (Super Sonic Wave Filter), which prevents dust and dirt from forming on the sensor, the E-330 and later models are equipped with the Live View function, which allows the photographer to instantly view the scene through the LCD just like a normal digital camera, and away from the limitations of a monocular camera, which can only be viewed through the viewport.