Olympus device - what is it?

[FredR]

What is it? It awaits someone to take it home and give it love.

 

[tcolgate]

The PM-CBSP seems to be the model name, you might find some info from drilling down from here...

Automatic Exposure Control Units PM-CBA / PM-CBAD / PM-CBSP

 

[tcolgate]

From what I can tell this is the exposure component of a dedicated olympus microscope photography body. There seem to be bodies with a dedicated shutter you connect a camera to, various exposure units and viewfinders. There's a bit more detail in the brochure from the site linked about.

http://olympus.dementix.org/esif/om-sif/photomicrogroup/manuals/photomicrosystems.pdf

 

[tcolgate]

This is a fun picture! So it looks like you might need a /couple/ more bits to get that thing working Though going by one of the other photos, the bit at the top there is a standard OM Mount, so you could switch that out for an OM1 (or presumable, 2,3 or 4).

 

[xkaes]

Or a Pen F/FT Microscope model -- with an adapter, of course. Olympus made a lot of microscope gear.

 

[FredR]

...it looks like you might need a /couple/ more bits to get that thing working....

Yeah, but then it's too big to fit in my camera bag.

 

[MattKing]

One of the most important strengths of the original Olympus OM system was how comprehensive it was in the field of photomicrographic work.

 

[wiltw]

The origin of the Olympus company was founded by Mr. Yamashita to establish his own firm, Takachiho Seisakusho with a friend. The objective of Takachiho Seisakusho was to launch domestic production of microscopes. "Olympus" has been used as a trademark since the time of Takachiho Seisakusho. In 1949, the name was changed to Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. and again changed to Olympus Corp in 2003. It entered the camera business in the 1930s. With that lineage, it is easy to see the reason for its prominence in photomicrograpy.