[shoplink 24922 ebay]
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Want to make a break from usual m43 news. While I was searching for a rangefinder camera I found a camera made by Olympus that I never saw before. It is the [shoplink 24922 ebay]Olympus O-camera (Click here to see it on eBay)[/shoplink]. It is an aluminum bodied very compact 35mm camera. It has a (detachable) strobe unit and a limited edition (only 20,000 units were made). I searched for some reviews but didn’t find anything. As I said, it’s completely unrelated to today’s world but the camera is so “different” that I was wondering if there was something that could appeal users today. It is a limited edition camera, has an aluminum body (which I do like) and a “circle-square design”. At least it would standout from other cameras in any store 🙂
[shoplink 24922 ebay]Olympus O is sold for $399 on eBay[/shoplink].
P.S: Today I am in the “found something new and weird” mood. Feel free to send me some links to other nice “different” cameras! 🙂
UPDATE: Bruce and Nigel sent us the name of another strange camera: The [shoplink 24925 ebay]Olympus Ecru (here on eBay)[/shoplink].
40 Responses
button on the front right looks like shutter – if so: horrible ergonomics – for humans at least.
now a camera with a rotating front piece with 3 prime lenses (wide – normal – portrait) would be kind of cool.
+1 🙂
This is how Fuji X100 should look like!!
LOL…that way it would appear as quirky as it performs!!! +1
If you think the O is interesting check out the Olympus Ecru.
I own both of these, they are fun to use. Olympus has always been a highly innovative company.
Ecru??? Never heard of! Will search now…
Ecr was very ugly….
I have an Ecru as well. I got many strange looks when I have used it!
There also was an “ecru” model. I think both these were shells over a miju camera.
Check this out- a 35mm twin lens reflex- with horizontally oriented lenses! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyoca-35-Most-Beautiful-35mm-TLR-camera-Rare-/280724948518?pt=Film_Cameras&hash=item415c82c626#ht_7266wt_1367
My mom had something like that when I was a kid. It was really fun to use.
I’ll see if she still has it stashed away someplace. It can be handy being related to a pack rat. 😉
See the Compass 2 camera, made in England in 1937.
http://www.earlyphotography.co.uk
Correction: http://www.earlyphotography.co.uk/site/entry-c12html#c12
Correction of correction (This time…….)
http://www.earlyphotography.co.uk/site/entry_c12.html#c12
From a technical standpoint, probably one of Olympus’ not-so-interesting history items. As I see it, a rather ordinary, programmed-automatic-exposure, IR-autofocus, viewfinder type 35mm camera in a futuristically, but not really ergonomically styled body, with no manual controls at all, and with a lens that may well have been really good, but then again not really fast either.
Even though, as optiksammlung.de says, the camera, which was indeed limited to 20,000 pieces world-wide, was sold out in Japan within just two weeks.
I wonder if, even today, it’s the same spirit again that makes the Japanese buy so many PENs, whereas potential buyers in US and Europe still seem to be more reluctant to buy cameras which are only slightly smaller and lighter than the smallest and lightest DSLRs, and not cheaper either, while at the same time still less versatile. 😉
Have you ever tried the entry level DSLRs currently available? They all feel like cheap plastic crap compared to the build quality of a PEN or a GF1/2.
+10
Even the “better” ones feel like junk.
I used a 60D a bit a few weeks ago and it feels like a giant cheap plastic shell, with a giant cheap plastic lens (18-135mm). My GH2 and 14-140mm focussed MUCH faster and much more accurately, which was surprising!
I had an old Canon 50mm f1.8 EF prime kicking around that improved the feel a bit, but still quite junky feeling. The GH2, even though much of the shell is plastic, feels rock solid in comparison.
As for the “O” camera. Very Cool. BUT, it has a rounded hump like the GF3, but since it’s an Oly, that makes it really beautiful, right? 😉
I like when camera companies try something outside the box. I remember an early Minolta digital camera where the lens was mounted on a cable that could be detached from the body. Cool idea. Sold poorly, I suspect.
I had several Nikon CoolPix pivot body cameras and really loved them. I still use my old CoolPix 4500 from time to time. It takes exceptional macro shots, too, considering it’s age and it’s only 4MP.
I just saved $800 over x100
Phenomenal if it was
1992 again
Here you go – Rolleiflex. Had used it a bit – astonishing viewfinder principle from the sixtees! Just a matt glass and what a picture – http://jasonchristopher.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/viewfinder.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rollei-Rolleiflex-Film-Camera-/180712564095?pt=Film_Cameras&hash=item2a134ee57f
The Olympus O-product and Ecru were limited edition boutique items, with internal components from and specifications similar to the Olympus Stylus and Stylus Epic. A Japanese design firm called Water Studio was responsible for at least one of these designs. The motivation of these design studies were to create special items for a limited market with emotional rather than rational appeal, using nostalgic themes and colors, and unexpected combinations of surface treatments. Retro design was a fairly new concept then, which takes design language from previous eras and applies it to products with contemporary technology. Minolta took a similar route with their PROD-20; Canon (somewhat later) released APS models Elph Sunshine and Elph Glacier. Sharp marketed retro theme tape players, Seiko introduced watches styled as though they were from the 1960’s and 1970’s. Nissan exhibited several retro theme concepts like the Figaro, a tiny roadster based (I recall) on Nissan Micra mechanicals, but looking like a distillation of 1950’s Italian cars.
There is another one here: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/220838054837?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_500wt_1156
I’ve found one photograph taken with O-product.
http://rikikiphotolabo.com/blog/cameras/oproduct/
The base model of O-product was AF-10 as far as I remember.
I’ve also found a short review in a Japanese magazine (2003).
…Operation is very simple indeed. A shutter button aside, it only has self-timer and rewind button. As sliding the lever in front, the cover will open. Holding is not bad at all.
The image quality of the lens has no problem, color and sharpness is quite good…
let me guess… this thing used the 12Mpix sensor found in the ep3!
Very funny, but no! That thing is Full Frame dawg! Full Frame!
LOL.
I would like to share my open box post
“http://www.omuser.com/viewthread.php?tid=147919&highlight=”
Way cool! Ecru, O, LTs, and, and… never seen the shiny one? Whats that?
mju limited
Yours seems to be a very special one, because it’s an Olympus employee’s 25th anniversary camera. It is a one of a kind camera specifically made for that employee (Vern Hapier). It’s an Olympus tradition, and his is a special one for him on top of an already Special Edition camera….
Other example of special anniversary camera for employee includes a Gold OM-1…. All these anniversary cameras are not for the public, but only for the valued employees who has worked for the company for decades. I heard there are only five gold OM-1 ever made. Don’t know how many Olympus O were made for such special occasion.
Time must be bad for Vern Hapier to sell off his anniversary camera….
Actually with some Google search, there are 25 gold OM-1. They were given to special people to Olympus. Maybe one of them is Maitani sensei’s. If so, that is a piece of photography history ought to be displayed in a museum…..
In any case, someone worked 25 years to get that Olympus O-product you have, so please take good care of it.
Thanks and I’ll take care of it.
You can’t imagine that I got it from ebay (one canadian photo shop) at a low price….
wa ha…this was the golden era of olympus in the last 20 years. If fact, Olympus did not bring herself great success of her SLR product (comparing with Canon, Nikon, Minolta). However, the compact camera like the stylus/mju series did make a great profit for her which all other three companies were not as splendid in this area. If Olympus was smart enough, she should has been making a 4/3 point and shot camera when she was making the 4/3 DSLR. Now she needs to get her time back…
Agree!
No wonder Olympus lags behind when engineers are busy with such a @!#$
Focus on E-50 instead?
Olympus O, I’ve mentioned it like half dozen times on this forum…. It is a museum piece and highly collectible. Functional wise, it is a simple P&S. The designer (forgot his name) said it himself. He was trying to make something that form dominates function. As a film P&S (35mm, f/3.5), it is more capable than Minolta PROD though.
Of course it would appeal to modern users, that’s the whole point of retro design. Yes, of course it can be implemented into a digital design, but I had been spending the last few month creating a blue print base off it because of LCD screen issue (the old Olympus O-Product does not have LCD in the back so the design needs to re do). The flash also needs to be redesigned because my design would be function/form compromise, not form over function type of thing. Unlike the original designer, I am also a photographer.
The entire retro design is to appeal to modern users, so yes, it can be implemented to modern digital design, which is my pet project for the last few months…. I think I’ve brought up Olympus O-Product for the last few months for half a dozen times already…. Does nobody read my posts at all?
In any case, the original designer (forgot his name) mentioned the priority of this design is form over function (my own words, his words are very confusing so people won’t notice his insinuation that this is not a “photographer’s camera” but a “designer camera”). In term of usability though, it is a capable P&S but that’s it, a simple P&S, 35mm, f/3.5, based on Olympus’s Acura P&S. It’s not a professional SLR, it’s a museum piece meant for collectors, but not to be shot with. It is however, better than Minolta PROD, which has design issue with its flash (cannot be turned off).
The design, to be usable for digital, the entire camera needs to be revamped, which has given me a hard time because of LCD screen issue. The flash also needs to be redesigned. Unlike the original designer, I am also a photographer, so the new design will be a compromise between form and function, not form over function.
LOL, sorry for previous comment I really thought Olympus is going to release something like this now 🙂
When Admin posted the first leaked GF3 photos, first thing I thought of was the O-product.
Me too, mentioned it in posts.
btw, the camera also featured in Tim Burton’s first Batman movie.
I think Olympus should do a limited RC/RD styled fixed 17mm/1.8 m43 to get back at Fuji. Well actually make that with changable lens, even better.
Just came across this thread while looking up more information on the Olympus O-Product camera. I have number 17667 / 20000. I am now a photographer but I went to school to be a mortician. Worked for 6 months and was talked into interviewing for a job at Target Corp. I was offered a job so I took it. Better pay and better hours. I worked at corporate from 1997 until 2014. I started in Dept. 56. Camera/film/photo albums/photo processing. I remember when we carried out first digital camera, it was a Casio (I have one in my basement). We couldn’t afford to carry it in all stores because it retailed for $500 so we only carried it in out top 50 stores. We had 317 stores back then. Lol. I received an Olympus O product and held on to it all these years. It is a beautiful camera and probably the only camera that has maintained its value… Well supposed retail value.
It wasn’t until my moms battle with ovarian cancer did I finally realize my life’s passion and what I should be doing. I consider it a great gift from my mom before she died. Finding your gift and being able to use it to support you throughout your life is priceless. I lost my Target job last December after almost 18 years. I lost my mom in 2013. Photography has been my saving grace in helping me find my way again… Without my best friend and biggest fan.