The Nikon doesn't 'feel' right?

[David R Munson]

I have the opposite problem. I spend too much time with SLR cameras and any rangefinder I pick up thereafter feels like some lame, half-incapable thing that I have to get used to again before I can trust it to actually take pictures...

 

[shadowfox]

I love my rangefinders and I love my SLR's and I love my TLR's! All feel perfect in hand.

Amen!
Add to that, LF rigs and home made stuff

 

[typhillips]

I disagree completely. The OM-1 is horrid when it comes to comfort. Its all sharp edges and small areas for your finders. Olympus "fixed" some of these "errors" in the later OM-1n by softening some of the sharp edges, but the cameras still don't handle nearly as well as an F3. OM's in general are great to carry but not the best when you get them to your eye.

I've always felt that the F3 was be best handling and most comfortable non-motorized SLR. True, its bigger and heavier than the OM's, but it is vastly more comfortable (the point the OP mentioned)

You definitely have a good point on the sharp edges. And the F3 undoubtedly feels like more of a rugged, precise piece of machinery than the OM-1. One example is the film advance. On the F3 it is so buttery smooth you can't even tell if there is film in the camera (sometimes this can be a problem if you don't watch the rewind mechanism after loading!). On the OM-1 it feels like "sand in a bucket" (someone else's words).

But having said all this, for me the OM-1 is just a lot more comfortable to shoot with, not to mention hang around my neck. The F3 just feels a bit ungainly, particularly in the right hand grip.

Wow.
That's so strange you should say that, because I've always found my Nikons to focus "frontwards" just as they should, while it's the Leicas that focus "backwards".

I guess it just goes to prove the old saying: One man's "frontwards" is another's "backwards"... or something like that.

 

[Ronald M]

My d40,D200, D700 all are nice within their limitation. My F2 is superb. My FE2 feels like consumer trash although it works perfectly.

Any Leica M, R 6.0 or later, SL, or screwmount all feel better than Nikons

 

[mervynyan]

I guess it just goes to prove the old saying: One man's "frontwards" is another's "backwards"... or something like that.

Leica throw counter clockwise to infinity, Nikon throw clockwise to infinity, if one has both in the bag, it certainly creates a confusion. Canon is the same way as Leica, unfortunately good FD mount lenses are hard find. If we are talking about AF cameras, it won't matter.

 

[L. M. Tu]

I can't imagine anything feeling as right in the hands as a big Nikon, but then I have abused F's and F2's, with and without motors, for many years, and now am mistreating an F4 with the small battery pack. They all feel just right. Smaller Nikons don't feel as good to me, but not bad either. My Nikkormat EL is a good fit, but I never got used to the shutter speed control on the mechanical 'mats. I also have a Canon F-1n, and it feels nice too. Now I would really like to get my hands used to an F6, if I could only afford it.

 

[apconan]

Well how about we start a thread about what looks "fashionable"? Anybody got a camera shaped like a poodle?

already exists, go to any leica thread

 

[Fovea]

I probably just need to sell it and get an F3. It's probably not the SLR, its the computerized stuff.

Just get yourself an F2 or FM. Completely computer-free, except for the meter those are 100% mechanical. The F2 also comes in handy as a lethal weapon in times of need, or maybe as a hammer. It wouldn't care.