I have recently become a fan of the iconic cameras designed by Yoshihisa Maitani, pictured above with some OM and XA cameras.
Yoshihisa Maitani is unusual as he is a well-known Japanese camera designer in a country where the designer of many iconic cameras was unknown. Cameras, like the Nikon F probably had several designers working together, and although Maitani didn’t in any way work alone, he did inspire others with his vision.
His first creation was the Pen series of half-frame cameras. A keen photographer he had access to the Leica IIIf and, aware of its drawbacks (and high price) he determined to create a camera with similar performance for a reasonable price ( ¥6000) in the late 1950s.
He decided that half-frame was the way to go, before only Leica themselves had made such a camera, the 1950 Leica ’72’. The advantages of this format were compact size and economy with 72 shots per film.
First, he asked the optical department at Olympus to design a Tessar type lens with no cost restraints. They created the superlative Zuiko, but it cost so much that Maitani had very little left to spend on the actual camera. However a combination of mechanical ingenuity and pared down design produced the first PEN camera in1959 which became an instant success for the company. Below is my 1962 Pen EES, allegedly the worlds first “point-and-shoot” camera.
It had a selenium meter wrapped around the lens producing full automation with two selectable shutter speeds. Focussing was by ZONE selection.
After creating a range of PEN cameras culminating in the Pen F single lens reflex, Maitani created the first ‘compact’ SLR the 1972 M-1 of which I have a beautiful example which I imported from Japan.
The Olympus M-1 name was challenged by Leitz who already produced a Leica M1 so after the initial production run Olympus changed the name to OM1. My example is fitted with an original M-System 50mm f/1.4 lens, this was later renamed (along with. the camera body) to OM-System.
The camera suffered from a common problem with the early bodies in that the foam cushioning the pentaprism against its holding bracket perished over time and attacked the viewfinder optics. I obtained a cheap OM10 (which shares the same pentaprism) donor camera body. After removing the pentaprism I sent it to an expert who replaced it together with a full service which included recalibrating the meter.
Below is my other OM camera, the OM2 Spot / Program.
