IMO, Half-Frame was a product concocked to satisfy several issues with 35mm
photography at the time:
1. Camera Size
2. Film + Processing cost
3. Something new and different for the marketing folks
Size: 35mm cameras in the 1960's were mostly large, heavy beasts, especially
SLR's (the few that existed). Remember the P&S cameras of the 1960's; the
the Kodak Instamatic 126 drop-in loaders with the fixed focus lens and a
flashcube? Half-frame was a way to appeal to persons wanting something
smaller and lighter than 35mm, while offering better quality for "real
photographers". In the late 60's and early 70's, 35mm cameras began to
shrink in size. The OM-1 and Pentax MX were the epidomy of the diminutive
SLR, while the compact 35mm cameras ruled the P&S market from Japanese Mfgrs
(Cannonet, Minolta, Konica, Olympus, etc). So the 1/2 frame cameras became
redundent from a size perspective by that time.
Film: In the 60's, film cost was a major issue. Color film and processing
was expensive (I don't have costs) for most consumers. I remember well in
the early-mid 60's when we shot B&W film and took it to the drug store for
processing. It was a bit of a luxury to use color. Half-frame offered
twice the pictures for the same price (although printing wasn't any less).
Much of it was marketing hype, but it obviously struck a chord with many
buyers, as the little cameras sold well.
Marketing: Camera and Film makers have always needed something new to sell.
The progression of formats and film sizes since the 60's has been a bit of a
torturous road. It's a lot like the computer and audio industries
progression of storage formats. I'm sure we all remember these formats:
- 126 (drop-in for instamatics)
- Agfa rapid (how long did that last?)
- 16mm (Minox and Russian cameras for the Mission Impossible! crowd)
- 110 (Ha! What a dumb idea.)
- Disk (Double Ha! An even stupider, Kodak brain fart!)
- APS (Half-frame for the 90's, which will probably be GONE by 2010,
surpassed by 35mm P&S and Digital)
As for Olympus' Half-Frame line, it continued into the early 70's. I find
references to the Pen EED made in 1981, but it was a product past it's prime
by then. Olympus really stopped most of it's half-frames by 1972 when the
OM's were introduced.
Skip
From: "Robert R. Gries" <rgg@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: [OM] The end of OM?? (+ impending new SLR)
Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2002 09:13:45 -0600
Is there anyone old enough to remember what happened to the half-frame
line when the OM system came out?
<snip>
For them to announce the "retirement" of the OM line means that
they are ready to pounce into the "Digital System" arena. Is
Olympus about to strike with a world-shaking product like the
origional OM-1 and OM-2?
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