Have a look at the Pentax LX.
All exposure info shows in viewfinder, which is excellent; the meter range is -6.5 EV to somewhere around + 20, off the film metering for flash and film exposure, mechanical shutter speeds above 1/75 sec. interchangeable backs, finders, screens; winder and 5 fps motor available, blah, blah, blah!! I have 3 of them and the Pentax f1.2 50mm. The f1.2 is a fine lens, but realize that it is only a little faster than the MUCH cheaper f1.4. Prestige does cost! But the f1.2 is an impressive item. I bought mine along with my first LX, feeling that I wanted the BEST than Pentax could offer at that time. I've never regretted the decision. The LX is built like a tank, all metal, and excellent handling, but far smaller than the competition from Nikon and Canon. The body is weather sealed, although I wouldn't trust mine after all these years. The meter is immune to light coming through the viewfinder, and can do night exposures measuring in HOURS, since it reads light falling on the film.
You should be able to find a good LX and the f1.2 for well under $1000. A serviceable winder would add $50 or $60 to the total.
Be aware that any camera of this type, be it Pentax, Nikon, or Canon, may have seen heavy professional use, and may need a proper CLA, cleaning, lubrication, and adjustment, which may not come cheap. Best to budget $150 to $200 for such. PentaxForums.com will give you user reviews of the LX and the various fast 50s out there. If you go with Pentax, try to buy your 50 or other lenses with the "A" position just past the smallest f stop. They will integrate easily should you decide to go down the digital path, and give easy exposure setting at full aperture.
Good suggestion, I support it.
Let's face it, the names in this game are three: Nikon, Canon and Pentax...to be more precise you can choose respectively a Nikon F with 55mm f1.2, a F2A or AS with 50mm f1.2, a Canon F-1 Old with a 55mm f1.2 or a 55mm f1.2 aspherical, a F-1N with the FDn 50mm f1.2 or the LX with K or A 50mm f1.2
A fourth alternative would be a Fujica X with the rare Porst/Fujinon 50mm f1.2 but they are to find and the only purely mechanical body is the STX-1 and 2, not in the league of the big bosses above.
Probably the best choice would be the Pentax because it's small, it has the best viewfinder of the bunch and supposedly the Pentax 50mm f1.2 is the best of the bunch notwithstanding the Canon asphericals who have a great reputation and a great price tag even if somebody doesn't like their bokeh.
I have most of this gear, the Big Three are all the best SLRs ever made, but the Nikon F2 has a pretty dim viewfinder in comparison to the Pentax and Canon, also it's 1:1 ratio but I feel the magnification is smaller.
I don't have a Nikkor 50mm or 55mm f1.2 but it appears they have a poor reputation wide open and significant distortion barrel. I DO have a Canon 55mm f1.2 and wide open it's loaded with coma to a level that its pictures looks like paintings (I like it and i consider it an "effect" lens), after 2.8 it's sharp. It's the biggest 50mm I've ever seen! The FDn 50mm 1.2 is much better, a little soft wide open but half the size of the 55mm and pretty sharp stepped down.
Sadly I don't have the Pentax f1.2 but it has an excellent reputation, it was the first to be introduced in 1975 (Pentax won the race to the SLR 50mm 1.2, Nikon arrived second in 1978 and Canon introduced its lens in 1980) with the K mount, the A is supposed to be sharper thanks to a better coating and it should have 9 blades instead of 8.
My best 1.2 is the Fujinon but I don't think you want to place that fabulous lens on a lousy camera like the STX, I use its full potential with a Ax-5
I found it's odd that the OP wants an SLR that is equivalent of a Leica. When I bought my first camera I seriously considered the Leica M4 and the Nikon F2AS. I thought the Leica was an excellent camera and was beautiful. The craftsmanship was very high so it was significantly better than the Nikon when I compared the two. But I bought the Nikon because it's an SLR and I like an SLR better than a rangefinder. As for the Leica SLR there was the SL2 but it didn't have near the features of the Nikon (back then I was young and care more about features).
The Leica equivalent is the SLR area is Pentax,they always made small and smooth cameras, Nikons and Canons always made big and chunky SLRs, but the SLR more similar to my M3 is a Spotmatic, while the LX is a sort of M7 equivalent. The MX is smaller than a M4, the K series are more brutalistic but not at the level of a Nikkormat.
