Olympus Corporation
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| Olympus Corporation オリンパス株式会社 |
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| Type | Corporation TYO: 7733 |
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| Founded | Tokyo, Japan (1919) |
| Founder | Takeshi Yamashita [1] |
| Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan |
| Key people | Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, Representative Director & President |
| Industry | Imaging |
| Products | Precision machineries and instruments, Cameras, Voice recorders, Medical endoscopes and other medical devices |
| Revenue |  813 billion Yen (Fiscal year ended March 2005) |
| Employees | 2,907 (as of April 1, 2005; non-consolidated Olympus Corp. only) |
| Slogan | Your Vision, Our Future |
| Website | Olympus Global |
Olympus Corporation (オリンパス株式会社 Orinpasu Kabushiki-gaisha?) (TYO: 7733 ) is a Japanese company specializing in optics and imaging. Olympus was established on October 12, 1919, initially specialized in microscope and thermometer businesses[2]. It is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan while its United States' operations are based in Allentown, Pennsylvania and European operations are based in Hamburg, Germany.
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[edit] Company name
The company is named after Mount Olympus, the home of the gods in Greek mythology[1].
Since its foundation in 1919, the company has gone through a few name changes. Below is a table of the corporate names by which Olympus was known since it was founded[1].
| Date | Notes |
|---|---|
| October 12, 1919 | Established as Takachiho Seisakusho |
| May 28, 1942 | Renamed Takachiho Optical Co., Ltd |
| January 1, 1949 | Renamed Olympus Optical Co., Ltd |
| October 1, 2003 | Renamed Olympus Corporation |
It is interesting to note that Takachiho is the home of the gods in Japanese mythology.
[edit] Products
Olympus has a history in 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 18 × 24 mm 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 35 mm 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[citation needed]. The company is a leading manufacturer of digital cameras. 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[citation needed], and called it "Olympus Video Photography", even employing renowned photographer Terance Donovan to promote the range[citation needed]. 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[citation needed].
Since the beginning, the company has also been a manufacturer of microscopes and optics for specialised needs, such as medical use. The first microscope manufactured at Olympus was called the Asahi[3]. Nowadays Olympus is a world-wide renowned manufacturer of microscopes. Olympus offers a complete range of microscopes, which covers applications from education and routine studies up to state of the art research imaging systems both in life science and materials science. The company also invented the Microcassette[citation needed]. The Olympus Pearlcorder L400, released in the 1980s, was the smallest and lightest Microcassette recorder ever offered for sale, 2.9 in. (L) x 0.8 in. (H) x 2.0 in. (W) / 73 mm (L) x 20 mm (H) x 52 mm (W) 3.2 oz[4].
[edit] See also
- List of digital camera brands
- List of Olympus products
- Four Thirds System
- SSWF, Olympus anti dust system.
- xD-Picture Card and SmartMedia
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ a b c Olympus History: Origin of Our Name. Retrieved on 2007-01-16.
- ^ History of Olympus: Founding. Retrieved on 2007-01-16.
- ^ Olympus History : The Asahi Microscope. Olympus Corporation. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
- ^ Thomas, Ralph D. (2006). Ultra Compact Pearlcorder L400 Micro, 1980's. Thomas Investigative Publications, Inc. Retrieved on 2007-03-03.
[edit] External links
Categories: Articles lacking sources from January 2007 | All articles lacking sources | Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Allentown, Pennsylvania | Companies based in Pennsylvania | Companies founded in 1919 | Electronics companies | Electronics companies of Japan | Olympus products | Photography companies
