Olympus was founded in 1919. The following year, in 1920, Olympus successfully commercialized the microscope for the first time in Japan, and the endoscope, which plays an extremely important role in the field of cancer prevention and treatment, was also developed for the first time in the world by Olympus in 1950. To date, Olympus Corporation has become one of the leading precision and optical technology companies in Japan and the world, with business fields including medical, life sciences, imaging and industrial machinery.
The company was named after Mount Olympus, the site in Greek mythology where the gods lived.
Olympus has a history of camera and lens design. The first truly revolutionary Olympus camera was the PEN model in 1959, a very compact and lightweight half-cell camera for its time. Half frame meant that 72 photos in 18 x 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 reaching the sensor, the E-330 and later models are equipped with the Live View function, which allows the photographer to view the scene instantly through the LCD just like a normal digital camera, and away from the limitations of a monocular camera that can only be used to view through a viewfinder.
As early as 2002, the Olympus CAMEDIA series of digital cameras sold more than 10 million units worldwide, fully demonstrating the strong market influence of Olympus.
The E-510 body, which was launched in June 2007, also incorporated the first floating CCD anti-shake mechanism driven by an ultrasonic motor, officially known as IS (Image Stabilization), making it the third manufacturer to use this type of anti-shake countermeasure, following SONY (formerly Konica/Minolta) and Pentax. A group of mirror-body supersonic wave motor lenses, also designed for fast focusing, will be released in 2007, with SWD (Supersonic Wave Drive) added to the product code to differentiate them.
In 1983 Olympus teamed up with Canon to produce a line of video recording devices called "Olympus Video Photography" by JVC, even hiring famous photographer Terance Donovan to publicize them. A second version of the system was released the following year, but this was Olympus' last foray into the consumer video device market until the popularity of digital cameras.
Since its founding, the company has also produced microscopes and optical equipment for specialized uses such as medicine, and it invented the microcassette tape.
Olympus as the world's camera field giant in 2001, the μ series of cameras to achieve global sales of more than 20 million units of brilliant performance. Similarly, in China, Olympus has stood firmly in the position of "No. 1 in national sales of civilian cameras" for eight consecutive years.
We are familiar with Olympus cameras, but the Olympus Group has made great achievements in the fields of microscopes, medical instruments, conventional cameras, digital cameras, printers and other image solution products, as well as high-tech life engineering. For example, endoscopes have evolved from gastroscopes in the early stages of development to fiberoptic endoscopes and electronic endoscopes, and have so far become indispensable not only for examination and diagnosis, but also for diagnosis and treatment. Olympus endoscopes are trusted by the medical community and have an 80% market share worldwide.