In the early 1970's Olympus created the OM system with over 300 system
components. Olympus has been a pioneer in the medical/scientific
imaging systems for as long as I could remember. The OM2 camera bodies
were used heavily for recording to film for much of this equipment.
Later in the 1980's they went to some more specific camera bodies on
their microscopes and imaging equipment. As the OM system became less a
part of their medical imaging systems, their interest in professional
35mm photography waned. The OM system was probably the most advanced
35mm camera systems ever made. Olympus is now known as a modern
technology company with little interest in building collectable cameras
for very wealthy (i.e. Leica or Contax)(O Product being an exception).
You won't see any gold plated collector issues from this company like
Hassy or Rollei. Personally I have little interest in collectibles since
I use my extra money for buying more modern tools that allow me to be
more productive in the media creation process. That said, look at what
Olympus has done. They invented the TTL flash system. This was
absolutely necessary to build the ideal macro system (which was a part
of their medical imaging system at the time). Of course their Zuiko
glass is impeccable. This quality glass is also absolutely necessary
for the medical/scientific imaging systems. All of this technology was
of course made part of their professional photography systems. It
appears that recording to film in medical imaging is less a part of the
industry now than it was in the last decade. All of their new medical
imaging systems are designed to capture images digitally. So goes their
spin-off technology making them a leader in the consumer digital camera
market.
My original post was a plea for them to develop a digital back system to
take advantage of all of their terrific glass and accessories
(especially those for macro photography). I hope they will, but reality
tells me that any plans for further developing the OM system probably
don't exist in the the very near sightedness world of modern corporate
management. Canon and Nikon along with Kodak are running away with this
market by selling systems such as the DCS560/660. At $20,000 for this
body they can sure use some competition by Olympus. However most pros
using 35mm dropped OM many years ago for the auto focus world. Like
most of the writers on this list I don't care for auto focus. However I
do need the capability of digital recording to stay competitive with my
equipment. I don't see why a modern camera system must have auto focus
to be productive. How may pros use auto focus in medium or large format
(don't even think about it in macro/micro work). I see digital as a new
and exciting format that eliminates a unnecessary step when creating
images for electronic media. If one really understands this new format
they may see some logic in taking advantage of existing 35mm lenses and
accessories.
Thirty years from now almost anything created in the 1970-80's will be a
collectable. There are many of us that get pleasure out of using some
classic old equipment .... but no one can depend on these relics for
modern productivity.
Phillip Franklin
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