Olympus

Olympus XA

Olympus XA

The Olympus XA is a sleek compact 35mm rangefinder introduced in 1979 by Olympus. After succeeding with a long line of compact 35mm half-frame ā€œPenā€ cameras, Rollei struck back with the amazing Rollei 35: a camera as small as any Pen but able to produce full-frame images. Olympus continued on with the newly outclassed Pen for over a decade before they finally came back with a real answer to Germany: the Olympus XA. When it was released, the XA was the smallest rangefinder ever made and is still one of the smallest today.

Olympus Pen EED

The Olympus Pen EED is a direct descendant of Japanā€™s very first half-frame camera: the original Olympus Pen. As it was one of the smallest available 35mm cameras at the time, the Pen was named as such because its portability could be compared to that of a (very oddly shaped, large, metal) pen. Seven years after the Olympus Pen debuted, the Germans launched the hallowed Rollei 35 which was just as small but could make normal 35mm frames and effectively heralded the end of Japanese half-frames. In defiance, this EED variant was released one year after that supposed end and, quite stubbornly, Olympus continued making Pens well into the 1980s and then revived the name in 2009 for its line of Micro Four Thirds cameras.

Olympus AF-10 Twin

The Olympus AF-10 Twin is basically the cheaper, non-weatherproof version of the Olympus Infinity Twin. Like the Infinity Twin, the AF-10 Twin has two lenses (a wide-angle 35mm f/3.5 and a telephoto 70mm f/6.3) that you can switch between with a touch of that wonderful, tiny red button on the top.

Olympus Infinity Twin

The Olympus Infinity Twin (also known outside the US as the AF-1 Twin) is unusual among compact point and shoots in that it has two lenses (a wide-angle 35mm f/3.5 and a telephoto 70mm f/6.3) that you can switch between with a touch of a tiny red button. It also inherits the rugged body designed for the worldā€™s first weatherproof automatic 35mm camera: the original Olympus Infinity/AF-1 which makes it even more unique.