The Olympus company was founded by Takeshi Yamashita in 1919 with the goal of producing microscopes domestically in Japan; his commitment to continual advancement in microscopy systems has built Olympus into the industry leader it is today.
By the mid 1920s, the company was producing a wide range of microscopes, as well as thermometers – a product line soon which was soon to be abandoned in favor of a focus on optics. By 1930, Olympus had also branched out into cameras, but it is their laboratory microscope range for which the company is best known.
Currently, Olympus produces microscopy instruments for a wide variety of laboratory and industrial applications in life sciences, medicine and other fields. The company manufactures a metallurgical microscope range, a full medical microscope range and a series of high power microscope products for research laboratories which require the ability to view intracellular microstructures.
The company was among the first to introduce innovations such as drawing attachments and photographic systems to microscopes aimed at the medical and scientific markets and in 1957 was the first company to produce a laboratory microscope with an external light source.
Olympus’ experience in the microscopy field has led to the company making ergonomics and operator comfort an integral part of product design decades before many other microscope manufacturers thought to do so. Olympus introduced some of the world’s first high power microscope systems with adjustable viewing pieces; something which made them an immediate hit with users.
Olympus continues to innovate to this day, with advancements in optical technology like their unique UIS2 optical system, which provides Olympus microscope users with the clearest, highest contrast images available today. The company remains as committed as ever to being the world leader in microscopy, with their instruments in use in thousands of laboratories and medical facilities in every part of the globe.