flavio81
Member
I'm primarily a rangefinder shooter (love my little Leica iif) who's looking for "my" SLR system as a compliment. I have an Olympus OM2 now, and love the small size but don't love the somewhat fragile feeling build and clunky film wind.
You are correct, it's a weak point. However, if you like the OM2 or the OM system, just keep using it, just be gentle with the film wind. The OM2N might be more reliable there.
As pointed out above the MX is a good alternative, it was a direct competition to the OM system and I personally love that machine. Also, often overlooked, the Pentax ME Super is part of Pentax's compact ("M") system and it would be more comparable to the OM2 in the sense that it also provides good automatic exposure. It's a highly ergonomic machine and it's very reliable after it has gone through complete service by a technician.
And on that point, does anyone know how both compare to something like the Nikon F3 or F2 in terms of weight and handling?
The F2 is a boat anchor compared to the OM cameras or the MX. The F3 is a bit lighter but still heavier and bigger than those.
If you want a light and more or less compact camera, or the most closest Nikon camera to the OM2, it would be the Nikon FE, which I find an excellent camera. Nikon has smaller cameras like the FG, which is smaller, lighter and even has more features, but the build quality is inferior to all the aforementioned cameras.
But for me the best "compactness-first and foremost" manual focus SLR cameras are Pentax MX and ME-super, and also the Minolta XD cameras (the minolta fans swear by them).
And the good Minolta lenses have nothing to envy to the other japanese lenses: Canon, Nikon, Pentax, or "Zeiss"