Episode 63: Mount Olympus

In Greek mythology, Mount Olympus was the home of the Twelve Olympian Gods, Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Athena, and others looked upon the mortals of the world and accepted their worship.  In modern times, Mount Olympus is also home to the Camerosity Podcast where Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike gaze down upon their followers, accepting tributes and praise. No, just kidding, none of us are that egomaniacal, no, the real Mount Olympus is in modern day Greece on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia near the Aegean Sea.  It was the inspiration for a small Japanese company formed on October 12, 1919 as K.K. Takachiho Seisakusho, or Takachiho Works Co., Ltd. in English.  The company would originally make microscopes, one of which was branded the "Olympus".  A series of cameras would come next with the same name, and in 1949, the entire company would then become known as the Olympus Corporation. In the years since, Olympus has created some of the best lenses and cameras the Japanese photo industry ever produced.  In the time doing this show, we've mentioned a variety of Olympus cameras here and there, but we had never dedicated an entire episode to them, until now. Tune in to Episode 63 where Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike are joined by returning callers A.J. Gentile, Howard Sandler, Mark Faulkner, Matt Murray, Patrick Casey, Patrick Rapps, Robert Coates, Tim Peters, and first time callers Josh Barker, Stephen Strangway, and Tony Plescia discuss their favorite Olympus models, some tips and tricks to using them, and a little bit of history. The episode barely gets started before we go down the academia route and debate what the plural form of "Olympus" is, but then we get to other questions such as why half frame was so popular in Japan, when did Olympus become a point and shoot company, and what are some tips and tricks to get an Olympus OM-2 or OM-4 cheaply at a thrift shop. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you!  Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show.  We LOVE people who are new to shooting and are interested in having an episode dedicated to people new to the hobby, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining! The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com.  We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance. We will return with Episode 64 which will be dedicated to Rollei.  We will discuss all of the early Franke & Heidecke Rolleiflex and Rolleicord TLRs, plus their later SLRs, point and shoots, and maybe even an interchangeable lens rangefinder, digital camera or two.  We will record on a special night, on Thursday, January 25th at 7pm Central Standard Time, 8pm Eastern Standard Time.  We look forward to hearing from you! In This Episode What Is the Plurality of Olympus? / Was Olympus Famous for Their Lenses First? Olympus's Early History / Zuiko Lenses Made for Other People / Zuiko Leica Thread Mount 40mm f/2.8 Olympus Pen and Trip 35 / The Pen Re-Started Half Frame Popularity in the 1960s Why Was Half Frame 35mm So Popular in Japan? / Maitani Designed to Pen to Be Inexpensive Yet Still Capable of Great Photos Half Frame Was Single Frame Before the Pen / What Is Everyone's Favorite Pen? / Olympus Pen EE and D Series Zuiko Lenses and The Letter Code Indicates How Many Elements / The Original OM-1 Was Called the M-1 Olympus FTL Was the First Full Frame Olympus SLR / No One Knows Who Made the FTL Anthony Loves the Pen F and FT / The Pen F SLR is a Marvel of Miniaturization Olympus Ace, Ace-E, and Tower 19 Rangefinders / Anthony's Olympus S