RIP Olympus' Yoshihisa Maitani - creator of the OM and Pen

[skip_williams]

<p>I just got an email from John Foster of Biofos informing me that Yoshihisa Maitani, the esteemed creator of the Olympus Pen and OM series of cameras had died at the age of 76.<br>

I remember fondly reading the interviews of Y. Maitani, as he was known back in the early 1970's, when I was researching the purchase of my first OM-1 in 1974. The idea of the renegade engineer who fostered the creation of the extremely successful Pen line and then the super-small, yet durable OM line really appealed to me and was part of the reason that I bought into the system. And here I am 35 years later still an Olympus fan with my E-1, E-3 E-520, and EP-1, having stayed throughout the late 80's and 90's while Olympus screwed up the AF years and bucked the Canikon juggernaut.<br>

Read the full notice here: http://www.biofos.com/tribute.html<br>

Skip</p>

[john_robison3]

<p>I think I'll take my oldest Pen, a one lug Pen std made in july 1960 and run off a roll in his honor. The little gem still works, the viewfinder is bright and I think it's time to give it a day out doing what it was desinged for all those years ago.</p>

[dan_b.4]

<p>While Mr. Maitani is best remembered for the great OM system -- in which I'm heavily invested -- I nonetheless think that Mr. Maitani's genius was best seen in the Pen SLR system. Those super-compact, art deco-inspired sleek camera bodies are works of art. The porro prism allowed for removal of the pentaprism atop the camera body. The Pen SLR's rotary titanium shutter allows for flash synchronization all the way up to the top speed of 1/500th of a second, whereas the focal plane-shuttered SLRs of the day typically synched at 1/60th of a second. I have a Pen F and two FT bodies plus several of the lenses, all of which have held up quite well for being 40-plus years old.</p>

[jack_lo_..._t_o]

<p>What a good idea John.</p>

<p>My first camera with alens was a Pen S, I took many of my favourite pix with it. I have three OMs, which to my mind are gems of simplicity & ergonomics, and an E-330, which I use with OM lenses. It's a lot of fun. It's coming out today.</p>

<p>Rest in peace, good doctor.</p>

[michael j hoffman]

<p>An innovator with the same outside-the-box vision as folks like Lee Iacocca. I wish his family and friends <em>doujou </em>as they now lay him to rest. Thank you for allowing him to share his innovation and ingenuity with all of us.</p>

<p>Michael J Hoffman</p>

[michael j hoffman]

<p>An innovator with the same outside-the-box vision as folks like Lee Iacocca. I wish his family and friends comfort and peace<em> </em>as they now lay him to rest. Thank you for allowing him to share his innovation and ingenuity with all of us.</p>

<p>Michael J Hoffman</p>

[vivek iyer]

<p>I am loading up my pen FT in celebration of his life.</p>

[Mike Gammill]

<p>Didn't he also design the XA?</p>

[patrick j dempsey]

<p>Mike.... yes. Maitani's legacy includes the original Pen rangefinders (which brought Olympus out of the small time and into the larger camera market) the Pen F SLR's (sheer technical innovations and genius) the OM1 and OM2 (I have some reservations as to how closely Matiani worked with other designers on the later models, as many design features of the double digit OM's and even the venerable OM4 seem out of his realm) and the XA (the first compact auto exposure camera with built-in lens cover). The cameras that Maitani specifically closely designed you can tell. I'm not sure what it is about it... but you can tell that his hands held those models and forged every detail. It is interesting that he has died on the 50 year anniversary of the Pen cameras, only shortly after Olympus has decided to honor his legacy with the EP1. </p>

<p>A great designer... his impact on camera designs will be felt for a long long long time to come I think.</p>

[neild]

<p><em>"... many design features of the double digit OM's and even the venerable OM4 seem out of his realm"</em></p>

<p>Indeed... although even though some features of the OM-3 and OM-4 were certainly imptrovements, I still prefer the OM-1 and OM-2 overall (including the 'N' variations): they are both masterpieces!</p>

[john_robison3]

<p>A lot of Maitani's inovation was just dogged determination not to give up. In an interview about the development of the Pen F camera shutter he told of the many failures they had along the way. He said they had tried aluminum, steel, and other alloys for the shutter semi-circle but at high speeds the metal either folded up like a fan or sheared the pins holding it to the shaft. Since it was a single disc, it had to spin and come to a complete stop at very high speed and this required a strong drive spring that also kept breaking after a few cycles. They wanted to try titainium for the disc but had a hard time finding a small quanity of it. Finally they located a jet engine manfacturer who would sell them some. By dimpleing the sheet they were able to make it thin but strong enough to resist the acceleration of the spring. The story goes that a Swedish firm provided a spring of sufficent quality to not break. On exploaded views of Pen F parts you will notice two little tabs on the shutter disc. They were necessary to cover the corners of the 18X24mm frame so the disc could be made as light as possible. To this day I don't think there is another focal plane shutter that will sync a electronic flash at 1/500. Amazing for that or any other time.</p>

[patrick j dempsey]

<p>Yes, that Rotary shutter is amazing... it's funny that it is so similar in some ways to the cheap single-speed disk shutter you see in old box cameras!</p>

[Alex_Es]

<p>A truly brilliant designer. Farewell Maitani.</p>

[maurice_raymond]

<p>A brilliant mind and innovator!</p>