lazy_clown | Aug. 3rd, 2009

30 июля умер Йошихиса Маитани, гений, спроектировавший Olympus OM-1, Olympus Pen-F, и Olympus XA.

"Maitani died last night — July 30, 2009 — at age 76, and left a legacy of groudbreaking, influential cameras over a distinguished carreer.
Maitani, who retired from Olympus in 1996, started designing cameras at age 10 and had several patents by the time he attended university. He joined Olympus in 1956 and by 1963 had designed the Pen-F, which enjoyed a long run and many fans. In 1972, the photo industry was turned on its head when his OM-1, the world’s smallest SLR, was unveiled and proved to be intensely popular. The OM-1 was followed by the more automated OM-2, OM-3, and OM-4—all small cameras. The OM’s run continued well into the 1990s. Then, in 1979, Maitani’s latest and possibly greatest creation, the XA, was released. Legend has it that Maitani was had just finished taking a bath at a public bathhouse in Japan and didn’t have his camera with him when a trucker stopped by to take a bath, too. However, he left his truck engine running, and the truck caught fire. The trucker ran out to his truck, straight from his bath, stark naked. Maitani couldn’t photograph this once-in-a-lifetime shot because he didn’t have a camera with him. This, so the story goes, inspired him to create a camera that was so small it could be taken everywhere: the XA..."

http://www.adorama.com/alc/blogarticle/Weekend-Wrap-Who-is-Yoshihisa-Maitani-and-why-does-he-still-matter
http://www.adorama.com/alc/news/Yoshihisa-Maitani-Olympus-Camera-Design-Guru-Dies