PEN SERIES: THE MFT STORY

OLYMPUS originated as “Takachiho Seisaku Sho” in 1919 as a marketer of microscopes and optical instruments. In the 30s, it moved into the photography lens making industry and its lenses were christened “Zuiko”. The name Olympus was given to the Company in 1949. Soon thereafter, it focussed on manufacturing 35mm rangefinder cameras and lenses. Olympus made its first SLR, the PEN-F in 1963. The PEN-F was the world’s first half frame SLR, and also the world’s first ever SLR with a porro prism. Tiny in comparison to contemporary SLRs, the PEN-F was a dazzling success. It was followed by the PEN FT and PEN FV. For the PEN-F system, Olympus marketed a total of 18 different Olympus bayonet mount lenses. The PEN series went out of production in 1972 and was followed by the launch of Olympus OM series. The OM-1 established Olympus as a leading SLR manufacturer. By building its reputation on the technology of miniaturisation, the OM series became a runaway hit for Olympus. The OM-1 was followed by the OM-2, 3 and 4. Both the PEN series and the OM series were the result of the genius of Olympus’ legendary designer Yoshihisa Maitani. Maitani built his reputation on the technology of innovative miniaturisation. With the advent of digital, Olympus was the first to recognise that the size of the camera was not limited by the size of the film. Accordingly, Olympus invented the Four Thirds Standard which used sensors that were far smaller than those used by full frame SLRs. A string of D-SLRs christened the E-series followed. Olympus also realised that with digital, the mirror was no longer necessary and therefore cameras could be designed to be much smaller than before. With smaller cameras came smaller lenses with smaller lens mounts. This led to the introduction of the Micro Four Thirds System, wherein the sensor size remained the same as in the Four Thirds; only the lens mount changed. Olympus debuted the Micro Four Thirds System by reviving the PEN name. This led to the resurrection of the PEN name and Olympus launched the PEN series for semi professionals, the PEN Lite for photo enthusiasts and the PEN Mini series for novices. Today, the Micro Four-Thirds standard invented by Olympus has been adopted by other competitors as well. For the first half of 2012, Olympus led the market for mirrorless cameras in Japan with a market share of 30.7%.