People often suggest one the film cameras from the Olympus OM lineup as a good film camera for a first-time-user. I cannot disagree with that and I have done the same. It's small, attractive (maybe even cute?), affordable, and easy to use. Conversely, it is equally appropriate in my opinion for the professional - small, reliable and full featured. One of the biggest benefits of the Olympus OM line is its vast selection of quality lenses. Lenses for the Olympus OM cameras include your standard wide to telephoto - like 24mm to 100mm and beyond, specialty wide angle lenses from 8mm to 18mm, shift lenses, reflex lenses, and funky macro lenses like the Zuiko Macro 20 mm f/3.5.

And as I talk about the "OM Line" of Olympus cameras it should be noted that the models themselves vary in their build quality and feature set. A long-time Olympus fan may prefer the multiple metering capabilities of the OM-4 while a first time user might enjoy the price of an OM-10. Then you have the OM-1, a fully mechanical camera easily appreciable by any film photographer.

Personally I chose the Olympus OM-2n. I can't tell you it was the best Olympus camera for me, as at the time I wasn't so versed in the various offerings of the OM line. In any case I never had any complaints about the camera, and enjoyed shooting it with my two Olympus Zuiko Lenses the 50mm f1.8 and 100 f2.8. I must have been on a budget because I remember not wanting to pay over 70 USD for a 24mm lens, and because of that I went with the non-olympus branded Tokina 24mm f2.8. I'm not a stickler for lens performance, all I can say is it was affordable and gave me images I was happy with.

Camera: Olympus OM-2n SLR
Location: Los Angeles & New York
Film: Unknown
Lens: Tokina 24mm f2.8 & Olympus OM Zuiko 50mm f1.4