Olympus Has Fallen — But Won’t Be Forgotten
As most of you in the photography world know, Olympus recently announced the sale of its imaging division to Japan Industrial Partners (JIP), with a definitive agreement expected to be signed in late September of this year. This is sad news for most of us in the Olympus camp — but it’s not altogether unexpected, either. Rumors have been swirling for years now about the “death of micro-4/3rds,” and the format has always been the underdog of the photography world. Someone once told me that Olympus is the Saab of the camera world, and that’s a pretty apt statement. Like Saab automobiles, Olympus cameras have excellent build quality, and the company itself is highly respected — but Olympus has always been a niche brand that never captured more than 6% of market share. But Olympus fans are fervent in their love for, and loyalty to, the brand — much like Saab aficionados.
Let’s take a brief look back at the history of Olympus cameras and see why the company is such an important part of photographic history. Then I’ll talk about my own Olympus journey and why the brand is so important to me.
Olympus is a Japanese company that was founded in 1919 and initially focused on microscopes and thermometers. In 1923, the thermometer part of the business was sold off and most of the proceeds were invested back into the microscope division. The early history of the company is irrelevant for this article, but suffice it to say that Olympus still makes its bread and butter from the medical/scientific optics sector — and Olympus branded microscopes can easily be spotted on nearly any episode of Forensic Files. Olympus introduced its first camera in 1936 — the Semi-Olympus I that was fitted with the first Zuiko-branded lens. In 1959, the company launched the innovative Pen series of cameras which used a half-frame format that doubled the number of pictures from each roll of 36-exposure 35mm film; one of the first in a long line of innovations pioneered by the team at Olympus.
In the early 1970s when Nikon and Canon dominated the SLR camera market, Olympus unveiled its legendary OM System, designed by Yoshihisa Maitani, which is still highly regarded by film enthusiasts today. Unlike its SLR competitors, Olympus’ OM SLR camera bodies were extremely compact — yet still professional grade — and this would be the Olympus hallmark even into the digital age.
In 2003, the Olympus Corporation entered the digital world, and they did so in a style befitting of the company’s innovative past. Unlike Nikon and Canon, who developed their digital SLR (DSLR) systems by Frankensteining elements of 35mm SLR technology, Olympus opted to build something brand new, from the ground up, designed specifically for digital. This was the birth of the 4/3 system — and what a glorious first child it was, with the release of the flagship Olympus E-1. The Four Thirds System was created by Olympus and Eastman Kodak as an open standard, allowing any company that wanted to create lenses or camera bodies to join in.
The 4/3 name stems from an archaic inch-based sizing system derived from vacuum image-sensing tubes; not, as is commonly thought, from the aspect ratio of the sensor itself —which also happens to deliver images in a 4:3 aspect ratio. This brings up an important point: one of the downfalls of Olympus is the convoluted nomenclature they like to use, which is confusing, at best, for the average consumer. But all that really matters is that the 4/3 sensor is about half the size of a frame of 35mm film, a seen in the following illustration:
The smaller sensor makes it possible to create camera bodies and lenses that are light and compact, yet can still deliver top performance — and the lenses offer a telecentric optical path, resulting in brighter corners and improved off-center resolution. Unfortunately, the pros of the 4/3 system meant little to the average consumer, and the cons (of which there are few, IMHO) became the stuff of photog internet trolling and fanboy vitriol. The only real downside to the 4/3 sensor is its low-light and high-ISO performance, which is totally bested by full-frame cameras — but who really needs to shoot at ISO 36,000,000, and who needs to take pictures in a pitch black room? Back in the film days, people did just fine with a fast lens, ISO 800, and some actual photography skills.
To make a long story short, the 4/3 DSLR format never really caught on like the APS-C cameras of the big boys. What it did do, however, is introduce new technology that would swiftly be copied by the likes of “Canikon,” whose fans typically have no idea that Olympus pioneered all that great tech. Examples include:
- “Supersonic Wave Filter” (basically, dust removal that cleans the sensor each time the camera is turned on)
- IBIS (In-body-Image-Stabilization) — no need for stabilized lenses; the sensor itself moves to accommodate camera shake. And make no mistake about it — not only did Olympus invent IBIS, their cameras are still the very best at delivering it
- Live View — first introduced by Olympus in 2006 in the E330 DSLR, competitors and consumers at first scoffed at the idea of taking photos by looking at a “live view” on the LCD instead of through the viewfinder. Now, this technology is in EVERY serious camera on the market
- EVF — electronic viewfinder. Allows the photographer to see what the final image will look like before snapping the shutter
- Weather-sealing. Olympus began to promote serious weather-sealing on its prograde camera bodies and lenses with the introduction of the E-1 in 2003
- Art filters —introduced in 2008 in the E-30 DSLR, these built-in effects were also scoffed at by serious photographers. Now, art filters and film simulations of all kinds come standard in most cameras and smartphones. Olympus created this tech before Instagram even existed. So, thank Olympus the next time you use a filter on your favorite app
Oh, wait — there’s more. How about Mirrorless cameras?? While Olympus didn’t technically invent them, they did bring them to the masses when they shifted gears in 2008 and abandoned their 4/3 DSLRs in favor of a new system, Micro-4/3. Sharing the same sensor size as standard 4/3, the Micro version simply lost the mirror box — facilitating a smaller body and lens design, as well as a shorter flange focal distance, allowing these cameras to use nearly any lens ever made (with a proper adapter).
Micro-4/3 had a good run of it, and the newer system sold a lot better than the 4/3 DSLR line, but it couldn’t quite keep up with its competitors — on paper, at least. In the real world, Micro-4/3 is more than enough for 95% of photographers. But the neverending pixel-count-wars, the increasing capability of smartphone cameras, and the growing popularity of Full-Frame cameras among “serious photographers” all but spelled the end for Micro-4/3.
But Olympus isn’t the only camera maker in trouble. Smartphones totally killed the compact camera market — and they’ve gotten so good that they’re starting to kill the prosumer camera market as well. And for good reason. If your main goal is taking casual snaps of your family, friends, and pets, who wants to lug around a standalone camera and several lenses? The rise of smartphone photography has had devastating effects on all camera manufacturers. According to CIPA, a Japan-based industry group with members such as Olympus, Canon and Nikon, worldwide camera shipments dropped by 84% between 2010 and 2018.Check out the following charts from market research firm Statista if you want to see how dire the situation is for “standalone” camera makers:
The situation is not good — across the board. So, for all you Olympus fans out there, you are not alone. It’s highly likely that other major camera companies will be selling shop or closing their doors altogether in the near future. The good news is that we don’t really know what will become of the Olympus camera division once it is acquired by JIP. They might sell off the patents and tech to the highest bidder, or they might forge ahead and make a few more “Olympus” cameras and lenses. It doesn’t really matter. If you own an Olympus camera and some of their outstanding lenses, rest assured — they will continue to take photographs for many years to come. My own E-1 DSLR is still going strong, and that “dinosaur” from the turn of the millenium is perhaps my all-time favorite camera body. Which brings us to the personal part of the story: how I fell in love with Olympus gear.
I started my photography journey in the early 1990s with a Yashica Lynx-5000 rangefinder, and I shot rolls and rolls of film. A few years later, my Step-dad gifted me his Olympus OM-1 and OM-2S film cameras, as he was finally moving on to digital. I continued to shoot film for many years, and I was one of those die-hard “only film” photographers who hated the rise of digital photography. But finally, in 2008, when I was sick of spending $10 or more on each roll of film and processing, I made the switch to digital — but I stuck with Olympus, opting for the new E-30 as I knew I could use my OM lenses with an adapter.
Later on, I picked up a used E-1 (which has the best camera shutter sound in the entire universe)… and then I finally made the switch to Micro-4/3 with the purchase of a new OM-D EM-10 Mark II (see how convoluted Olympus’ naming convention is?). I also snagged a dirt cheap copy of the OM-D EM-1, allowing me to more fully utilize my legacy 4/3 DSLR lenses. I have never really shot with anything except Olympus (in the digital world) and I’m a fan for life. No matter what happens with the sale of the imaging division, I have enough Oly gear to keep me going for many years — and it should be easy to pick up cheap second-hand bodies in the future, if necessary.
I’m not going anywhere, Olympus. Thanks for creating some of the most classic cameras ever made. And if you’re an Oly shooter, don’t despair. Photography is about fun and learning — not the gear. So get out there an make some great pictures!
