Another interview with Maitani, this time from an Asahi Camera
publication, New Face Clinic: Olympus Selections. Reading the first part
you could be forgiven for thinking it's the same as the previous
interview, and in fact the interviewer this time was the photographer
for the last interview. A freelancer making the most of his opportunities?
Anyway, keep on scrolling down and there's stuff about the OM-2 and 4.
Enjoy
Will
The OM series' developers speak.
>From the universe to bacteria: the OM system's grand dream.
>From the OM-1 to the OM-4Ti, the small and light single-digit OM series,
combined with the expansive OM system, can cope with every type of subject.
The designers of this individualistic system, Yoshihisa Maitani and
Kunio Shimoyama, explain the essence of the OM series.
Koichi Akagi: First of all, please explain simply the development of
what can be called the beginning of the OM series: the OM-1.
Yoshihisa Maitani: There's so much it's not simple (laughs). The
beginning came in response to America. In 1967 Olympus's main strength
was in half-frame cameras. In America colour slides were popular, but
for half-frame the number of mounts doubles and it becomes more
expensive. Film processors didn't cut the film and returned it with only
36 mounts. But they were 35mm mounts.
KA: So there were two pictures in each mount.
YM: Right. Japanese manufacturers had responded immediately. So then the
business section said to make a 35mm SLR camera.
KA: The ideal SLR you aimed to make was small and lightweight.....
YM: But the company's top people said to copy the popular SLRs of the time.
KA: Of course you rejected that idea, saying that you disliked doing the
same thing.
YM: I didn't say I didn't like it, I said I wouldn't make it (laughs).
Making the same thing has no meaning. In my own words: "valuable
creation". To create a camera with new merit that users want. At that
time SLRs were big, heavy and had a loud shutter - three big problems
which hadn't been overcome.
KA: So then small and light.....
YM: I stubbornly refused to talk about the specifications in I don't
know how many meetings, because small and lightweight weren't on the
spec sheet. Finally I copied the data from another company's camera,
wrote them on the blackboard, and got approval for them. After all that,
at the final project meeting of 1967 they said "do whatever you like."
KA: It took ages to drag those words from them, right? (smiles)
The Magnificent OM System
YM: The basic concept was "from the universe to bacteria", and the first
aim was to build a large system. The second aim was to get rid of the
three evils of the SLR that I mentioned before.
KA: Technically it was very difficult.....
Kunio Shimoyama: We nearly gave up many times. Somehow we'd manage to
make something, only for Mr. Maitani to say it was no good! Indeed,
because the mirror length, the mount diameter and so on had been decided
before the body size, we were often baffled. Because there was no
compromise on features.
KA: Reducing the size and weight of the lenses was hard too, wasn't it?
A decline in performance is unacceptable.
YM: That was a major prerequisite: that we shouldn't lose out in
comparisons with other manufacturers' respected lenses.
KA: The incompatibility of reducing the size and improving performance
is a primary factor.
YM: It may be one of the factors, but I think solving that is the power
of technology.
KA: The shutter dial is at the base of the lens, and on the OM-4Ti as
well. Was that necessary to make the camera smaller?
YM: You know the phrase "transfer of the capital city"? A transfer of
functions. To make the body smaller I want to move the shutter drive
somewhere else, and isn't there a space under the mirror box? So there's
the idea. The dial at the base of the lens was unavoidable. That way it
handles well.
TTL Direct Metering & Flash System
KA: Several years later the aperture-priority AE OM-2 came out. Exactly
the same size as the OM-1, it became a subject for discussion.
YM: As I said before, OM was a grand project, the most popularly
accepted part of which was the OM-1. After that, there was automation
and more specialized items.
KA: TTL direct [OTF] metering also became a big talking-point.
KS: The basis of that was automating the flash system.
YM: The bacteria part of "from the universe to bacteria." I am friendly
with Kon Sasaki, who takes photos of insects. At that time he showed me
a dog-eared home-made photographic data sheet. He told me that without
it he couldn't photograph the insect world. So I said we'd make it
automatic (smiles).
KA: There was discontent with the inability of the OM-2 to the OM-4Ti to
do slow-synch flash using TTL direct metering and dedicated flash. It
finally became possible on the OM-3Ti.
KS: When thinking about that, we worried that if it was a pro it would
be OK, but if it was an ordinary amateur wouldn't it just end up a blur?
YM: The photographic features we're talking about now are necessary for
the people who need them, but there's a secondary consideration. For
people who have a clear purpose in their photography it's a convenient
feature, but for people who don't understand it, this same thing
shouldn't be an inconvenience.
Multi-spot metering geared to photographic intent
KA: Then the OM-4Ti's predecessor, the OM-4 came out. What kind of
concept did multi-spot metering come from?
YM: That's a difficult question (smiles). Normal direct metering is
centre-weighted. For most people I think this is enough. But there were
several requests, very detailed requests. Wanting to combine or compare
exposures, highlights, shadows and so on. Was it Nikon's solution to
divide up the patterns of numerous pictures?
KA:In the Nikon FA.
YM: Maybe so. So there was that to investigate.
KA: So before the conception of multi-spot metering you were able to
think about evaluative metering, multi-segment metering.
YM: Yes, that was before. Then we investigated what was ideal. Basically
I think 800f people are satisfied with centre-weighted metering, 10 or
20% are looking for something different. To decide on multi-segment
metering as a designer is not the decision of the user. I doubted
whether this was really right.
KA: Deciding an exposure is difficult - I still get results different
from what I expected (smiles). Spot-metering is quite a difficult way of
metering, but if you look at the OM-4Ti brochure you get the impression
that you can get well-balanced exposures even in very difficult conditions.
YM: We did a lot of tests, but there's no such thing as perfection.
KA: Of course.
KS: It's very difficult not to get complaints from customers about
automatic exposure. Each photographic situation is different, each
subject is different. One metering system cannot handle that. So then we
thought to give the information to the customers. How they use that
information is their concern. We thought it would be good to have a
product like that.
The Challenge of Full-Synchro Flash
KA: I see. Then the improved model OM-4Ti came out, and after that the
mechanical OM-3Ti appeared, both of which are still available. Where was
the concept of full-synchro flash born?
YM: That came from the earlier Pen F that used a rotary focal plane
shutter and had full-synchro flash.
KA: Is it fair to say that was the origin?
KS: I think that's fair to say. But at the time of the Pen F flash
technology wasn't as advanced: the strobe light couldn't be controlled.
KA: It seems to me that making the shutter run vertically so increasing
the synchro speed would be easier, so it's a mystery to me why you
insisted on a horizontal cloth shutter.
YM: I didn't. We researched this. One reason for staying with a
horizontal shutter was the noise problem, another was the height of the
camera. Whichever way you make a vertical shutter, the camera becomes taller.
KA: By lengthening the duration of the flash on the dedicated strobe, it
can synchronize with fast shutter speeds, but it cannot freeze
fast-moving subjects. Of course it's outstanding for portraits,
open-aperture photography and so on.
KS: Naturally you can't expect that. It's the same situation as
controlling the speed in daylight.
YM: Nothing is perfect. Users should say what they want, because
everyone has their own taste. Not everything can be realized, but one
user can still see a lot of good points too.
KA: That's true (smiles).
KS: If the Pen F had direct metering it would solve the problem we're
talking about now.
KA: Could you do that?
YM: If we were still making the Pen F we could. I think that's why the
Pen F was ahead of its time.
The Incomplete OM Dream
YM: We've been talking only about technical functions for a long time,
but I want you to say a bit more about how convenient the OM-4Ti's
handling is (smile): how to use the memory, how to cancel it and so on.
KA: I'm sorry. Of course I think it's wonderful.
YM: Every time I insisted that the buttons must not be made smaller,
there were counter-arguments. "You can't do this, it'll cost too much..."
KA: Great persistence.....
YM: That persistence over things that have nothing to do with the
specifications, like the durability tests, the handling and so on, was
not readily appreciated.
KA: I appreciate it. The OM-3Ti, even with the self-timer omitted, is
praised for its professional specifications. It's like a Leica. There
are no cameras like it now.
YM: In that sense that's right. So the people it makes happy are
delighted to have it, the people who don't like it really hate it.
KA: I've heard you take a lot of photos. Isn't that unusual for an engineer?
YM: Yes, I take about 10 rolls a month.
KS: Even now there's a photography school in the development section at
Olympus, and all the new recruits must attend the school. The new
employees have graduated from university engineering departments, but
there are many people who have had no photographic experience. They buy
a camera with their own money. We insist that they use their own salary
to pay for it. If they don't they won't understand the user's pain.
YM: The graduation assignment is a black and white print they enlarge
themselves. I was the school's first principal so I taught there.
Making one's own print is thrilling.
KA: That accumulated experience doesn't end with the camera's features:
handling, a sense of touch, and persistence are all in the camera one
makes (smiles). By the way, to backtrack a little, I think you can do
more with the OM-4Ti.
YM: The original concept is still alive at the present time. I think
there are difficulties but I feel it is firmly defended.
KA: Users are worried about the future of the OM system and whether it
will be maintained. Perhaps this is gossip again, but was there really
an OM-5?
YM: It's not "5". It's more extensive, including everything since the
OM-1. It's finished in my head, but in the world single features cause
so many comments and such commotion. So then to say that there's this
camera...I have many dreams that haven't been realized.
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