[lxdude]

Olympus (as it often did) started the downsizing trend with its OM-1, which was smaller, lighter and quieter than other cameras.

I would agree that they started it in a big way, partly because they advertised the hell out of it. Name a famous 35mm camera designer, and most people could only give two: Barnack and Maitani. Olympus did a great job on both the camera and the advertising.

But Fuji came out with smaller, lighter, quieter cameras with bright viewfinders before Olympus: the Fujica ST701 and ST801. The 701 hit the market in '70 or '71. The 801 was announced about the same time as the OM-1, but was available in quantity sooner. They weren't as teensy as the OM-1 but they were small, light, quiet and bright compared to the Nikkormats, SRT's, FTb's and Autoreflexes out there, and even the Spotmatics. And the 701 had the first silicon cell meter; the 801 had that and the first LED meter indication.

I still have the ST801 I bought in '74 and it's still working fine, though I used it so heavily it has been retired. I managed to wear the chrome clean off the mount threads.