Olympus O-Product Camera

My Olympus O-Product Camera

In high school, my good friend Greg Copeland introduced me to the Olympus camera system in the early 1970s. He was the first person I knew who bought into the Olympus OM system with the OM-1, which I believe was in 1973. At that time, Olympus was very innovative, making the most miniature SLR camera system, which included a complete line of small, compact lenses with very nice optics. I can still remember Greg telling me how much he enjoyed how nice the camera was made. He would take the camera with him all the time. At the time, I was using either the Topcon Super D or, possibly, I had moved on to shooting with a Nikon Nikkormat.

 I started working in the photo industry in late 1973 when I was hired as a seasonal employee in the camera department at my local K-Mart. That position didn't last long, but it led me to work at the local camera store chain about a year later. I was hired to work in the warehouse and handle all the camera and lens repairs.

 When I started working at the local camera store, the Olympus OM system had a decent hold on the market. However, it was still lagging behind the big kids in the marketplace. Olympus was continually pushing the envelope with many new and exciting products like the terrific XA camera line, which, to this day, is one of my favorite cameras. Olympus introduced new additions to its system yearly, which always had customers in the store talking about its products.

Olympus O camera & Flash

 I tell you this because I have seen many odd and unusual cameras introduced by camera companies over the years, and many of them came out in the 1980s to the mid-1990s. The Minolta Prod 20, the Yashica Samurai, and Canon had the Epoca series of cameras. There's a great blog on some of these cameras on the Kosmo Foto Blog.

 One of the cameras that greatly impacted me when it was introduced in 1988 was the Olympus O-Product camera. It was a limited edition, and only 20,000 cameras were made. The Olympus O-Product camera had a very unusual, art deco look of a circle in a square and was made of brushed aluminum. At the time, the cost was prohibitive for me to purchase, but I remember thinking that someday, I'd really like to have one in my collection. Its unique design always intrigued me.

The Company:

The history of Olympus cameras is a story of innovation, precision engineering, and a relentless pursuit of compact, high-quality imaging tools. Founded 1919 in Japan as Takachiho Seisakusho, the company initially specialized in microscopes and thermometers. In 1949, it was renamed Olympus Optical Co., Ltd., and it soon began making a name for itself in photography.

 Olympus entered the camera market in 1936 with the launch of the Semi-Olympus I. This bellows camera used the German-made Zuiko lens, setting the stage for a signature brand name synonymous with Olympus Optics. However, it was not until the post-war period that Olympus truly revolutionized the photography industry.

 One of the most pivotal moments came in 1959 with the release of the Olympus Pen. Designed by the legendary Yoshihisa Maitani, the Pen was a half-frame 35mm camera, meaning it could shoot twice as many exposures per roll of film. It was compact and affordable and helped democratize photography for a wider audience. The Pen series enjoyed massive popularity and marked Olympus as a leader in miniaturization without sacrificing quality.

 The next major innovation came in 1972 with the OM system. Again spearheaded by Maitani, the Olympus OM-1 was a compact, lightweight SLR (single-lens reflex) camera that offered full functionality in a significantly smaller body than its contemporaries. This system appealed to professionals and enthusiasts alike, reshaping expectations for what an SLR could be.

 In the digital age, Olympus continued to push boundaries. In 1996, they released their first digital camera, the Camedia C-800L. However, the Four Thirds system, introduced in collaboration with Kodak in 2003, made a lasting mark. This was followed by the Micro Four Thirds system in 2008, which eliminated the mirror box of traditional DSLRs, allowing for even more compact and lightweight cameras. The Olympus PEN E-P1, released in 2009, revived the classic Pen design in a digital form and was among the first mirrorless cameras to gain traction in the market.

 In 2020, Olympus exited the camera business, selling its imaging division to Japan Industrial Partners, which rebranded the line as OM SYSTEM. Despite the transition, Olympus's legacy lives on through continued innovation and the enduring influence of its designs on modern photography.

The Camera.

I've always thought of the Olympus O-Product camera as more of an art piece rather than a functioning camera, but it is fully functional. In its simplest form, the Olympus O-Product is a "point-and-shoot" camera. There are no settings on the camera that the photographer needs or can really set, which makes it incredibly simple and straightforward to use.

Camera’s number from production lot.

 The camera is relatively small, measuring 4" wide by 3.5" tall and 2" deep. These measurements are for the camera alone and not with the flash attached. If I add the detachable flash, the camera is 5.75" wide by 4" tall. The camera weighs just under 1 lbs. at 15.2 oz. with the flash attached. My camera is number 11289 out of 20,000. The camera also features a unique circular viewfinder and a distinctive shutter button, adding to its charm and functionality.

 The Olympus O-Product camera is powered by 2-AAA batteries that fit into the camera's bottom. The 2-AAA batteries also power the detachable flash. The camera is very simple and basic. Once the batteries are in the camera, you can load film, which is autoloading. There is no need to set the film's ISO because the camera has DX coding for the film loaded. Once you put the leader on the take-up spool and close the back of the camera, the camera automatically winds the film to frame number one.

 To turn on the camera, a lever you pull down on the front opens the front door, exposing the 35mm f3.5 Olympus lens. To turn the camera off, close the front door. There are no shutter speeds to set as the camera has a programmed electronic shutter. The camera is also autofocusing. In the center of the viewfinder,  you'll see a white circle when you depress the shutter button halfway on the front of the camera. In that case, a light will light up next to the "AF" in the upper right-hand corner, letting you know the camera has focused on the subject, and you can press the button to take the photo. Once you take the picture, the camera automatically advances to the next frame. Once you've taken all the photos on the roll of film, the camera will automatically rewind the film into the film cassette.

 The flash for the camera is detachable, so if you don't need it, you can take it off. To take the flash off, you need to unscrew the mounting screw, and the flash will come off the camera. You still need to unplug the cord from the flash to the camera, which pulls out, so it's very simple. To attach the flash, you screw it onto the camera and plug in the cord. If the camera needs the flash, a red ready light on top of it lights up when the flash is ready and will fire if it determines it needs the extra light to make a proper exposure.

 There are two buttons on the camera's top next to the flash attachment that allows the photographer to make adjustments when shooting.  One of the buttons is a self-timer. If you want to get into the photo, press the self-timer, giving you 10 seconds to get into it. The other button is a rewind button. Suppose, for some reason, you want to change to a different type of film. In that case, you can depress the rewind button. The camera will automatically rewind the film back, leaving a little bit of the leader exposed so you can re-load it when you want to finish that roll of film.

My Results.

I put batteries in the camera and flash, loaded it with a roll of Ilford Plus 50 black and white film, walked through the house, and strolled around the block taking photos. The camera determined if the flash was needed, which was pretty fun. It was too simple for my taste as sometimes I like to use fill flash, but this camera didn't allow me to do so. I could trick the meter by putting my finger over the meter area, but for this blog post, I wanted to be free and let the camera do all the work.

 Here are a few of the photos taken on my walk.

Conclusion.

Using such a simple but beautifully made camera was a lot of fun. The camera produces very sharp images and is extremely easy to use. When I was working at the camera store, we used the term PHD cameras, which always meant "push here dear," meaning the camera was very simple for either men or women. Put the camera to your eye, point it at your subject and "push here dear".

 As I mentioned earlier, the Olympus O-Product camera is more of a work of art or statement camera that looks terrific in the collection. It's not really made to be used on a daily basis, but using it every once in a while is good. I wouldn't want the camera to get more scuffed than it already is, but taking the camera out was fun, as was running film through it.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your day to read about this art piece that can also be used as a camera.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Marchand Fischer Baby Camera

Whenever my wife and I visit a foreign city, I check to see if the town or a surrounding city has a Flea Market to check out the local market of used and collectible cameras. This spring, my wife and I returned to Paris, which has a robust and large Flea Market area that thrives on the weekends. 

 

The Flea Market, which comprises smallish stalls selling goods from carpets to antiques and almost anything imaginable, was a used camera store. It was not in the flea market but on one of the main roads surrounding the markets. Looking around the camera store, I noticed that the shop owner had many great cameras, but one that caught my eye was the Fischer Baby camera made by Marchand.

 

The Company:

I don't have much to say here, as I've searched the Internet and cannot find out much about this company. It's most likely because they were a small French company in Charbonnieres, France, after WWII. They produced a minimal amount of toyish cameras in the 1950s sold in toy stores. Due to their build quality, which I'll get into more when I explain the camera below, they were poorly received and, therefore, went out of business.

 If you or anyone who reads this post knows anything about Marchand Co., which produced these cameras, I'd love to know, and I will update the blog post with that information.

The Camera:

There are a few items that drew me to this camera. The faceplate is typical, but it does have a 6 on one side of the lens and 9 on the other. My first thought was that it was a fascinating film format. I'm a real enthusiast of anything panoramic, so this was the first light bulb in my head. Then, when I got closer to the camera and picked it up, the bulbous size and extremely light weight of the camera were pretty fascinating. It has almost a circular look and feel to the camera. Being someone who enjoys panoramic cameras and images, the 6x9 format made this very intriguing.

 

The camera is straightforward and similar to a Box-style camera but even simpler as there is no aperture setting and only two shutter speeds. The Fischer Baby has a very simple shutter with a bulb setting  "P" for time exposures and an "I" setting for instant. The camera's shutter, at least on my camera, "clicks" when you press the shutter button down, which exposes the film, but it does the same thing when you pull the shutter button up to what most people would think it to be the starting position. The shutter speed is about 1/80th sec, and possibly even slower.

Another fascinating point about the camera is how thin the plastic is. It doesn't have a lot of "heft" to it, and it's pretty light—the camera loads like any other simple point-and-shoot style camera from the late 1940s to mid-1950s. There's a red window on the back of the camera so you know when you're at the next frame to take a photo. The transport continues, but you can wind past the next frame if you're not careful.

 The Baby Fischer has no frills in its design. Two clips on the side of the camera keep the front of the camera attached to the back of the camera. There is no locking mechanism, and the clips could open easily, exposing the photos already taken. My camera is missing its strap because one of the eyelets has broken off, which I'd guess is pretty standard due to its build quality.

The Results:

My first impression was that this camera takes 120 film. When I went to load the film, the 120 roll was too big, so I thought this must be a 620 film camera. Its re-spooling capability allows you to re-spool 120 films onto a 620 reel. I found an empty 620 film spool and a 120 roll of T-Max film, put them into my dark bag, and re-spooled the film.

 I had never done this before, and when I took the film out of the dark bag, it looked OK. It was not professionally done, but it was my first time doing so. After loading the film into the camera, I took photos with my second spare 620 spool.

 The results showed that my re-spooling wasn't perfect. In fact, it was poor, as there was some light leakage coming from the end of the spool where the film wasn't tight enough. Other than the light leaks, the results were pretty good.

The Conclusion:

After walking around my backyard and in front, too, the camera could have been better to work with. The viewfinder was challenging to look through and not precisely in its proportions. The winding was OK; you can see the film advance and frame numbers in the red window on the back. Since there wasn't a strap on my camera, I had to carry it, which wasn't uncomfortable, but I was always thinking about not dropping it. I'm glad I did a post on this camera and have already picked the camera for my next post, which will be on the Exakta 66 camera.

 Thank you for reading this post. I appreciate your time. Until the next post, please be safe and well.