Hi Dave,
I'm an amateur mainly interested in informal/reportage style stuff, 80% people with a bit of "scenic" (if you can apply that word to the UK cities where I usually find myself shooting ;o) so I guess my requirements are roughly similar to yours. I have an RTS II with a collection of three AE lenses, 35/1.4, 50/1.4 and 85/1.4. I recently took the plunge into Leica M, with an old used M6 and a couple of fairly fresh lenses, the 35/2 ASPH and the 50/2. I wouldn't argue with Marc's recommendations over the faster lenses, but I wanted something compact and also didn't want to spend the money for the f/1.4 glass. I can carry the M plus the RTS with one lens (typically the 85 but sometimes the 35) in a compact Billingham satchel. I like having two bodies, as it gives me options over film choice. For ex&le, if I know I'm going to be indoors a while, I'll load something fast into one of the bodies (often the Contax) and usually have Astia in the other.
I find the Zeiss 50 and 85 to be crackingly sharp at f/2.8 and beyond, but at f/2 they can't compete with the Leica. Of course, there is another stop to play with if circumstances absolutely require it, and the soft-focus look of these lenses at full aperture is an attractive effect in its own right. The 35/1.4 is one of the world's great lenses. I tested it back to back against the Leica 35/1.4 ASPH and the difference was marginal -- certainly not worth the 100% difference in the used price. Albert, I got mine (an AE in fine condition) for GBP395 and I've seen them regularly at around that price, which IMO is an absolute steal considering how good a lens it is. And they don't make an N-mount version?! Go figure.
For the kind of stuff I shoot, manual wind is preferable because I don't need the frame rate and motor shriek is an intrusion. There's also the perception that anything with manual wind is a quaint old-fashioned camera, which can help set strangers at ease. Given those parameters, the RTS II has to be the best SLR body available. It gives you exactly what you need and no more; the meter is sensitive and accurate, the AE lock switch is a delight, the viewfinder is excellent (get a grid screen if you intend to stick with the fast primes) and the body itself is beautifully built but compact. I don't miss the P or Tv modes and I save money by going for AE rather than MM lenses. I paid just GBP225 for my RTS II, and although it's in decent nick I will probably try to get hold of a really good one within the next year or two, before they start getting rare. This is a camera I will probably ask to be buried with!
Regarding Leica bodies, I bought the M6 a few months ago thinking that I would replace it with an M7 if I decided to stick with the M-series. In fact, I was in a shop on Saturday looking at an M7, and I think I will wait for the next AE-equipped model before I part with that kind of cash. The main irritation with the M7 is the film speed dial lacks any kind of lock, and can shift while the camera is in the bag. Also, the battery cover on the M7 is notorious for coming loose. Bizarrely I don't miss the AE with the M6, even though there's no way I'd consider a full manual SLR body, and I can't quite make out why this is. Perhaps it's just because the controls are so easy to use with the camera raised that the meter-and-adjust operation takes no longer than the meter-lock-recompose approach that I use with with aperture priority auto bodies. Plus, if I did have AE, I'd want a better AE lock than the M7's three-position shutter button provides (cf. the rotating switch on the RTS II).
To put this into perspective, I also own a very full Canon system, with a 1v body and eight or so lenses. Ok so maybe I'm still in the honeymoon phase with the Leica, but the fact remains that the Canon has seen hardly any use in the last three months. I'm not about to sell it, because it still has its uses, but as an everyday system for informal work, the M6/RTS2 combo is "it". BTW I also have an Olympus OM4Ti (too many cameras, I know!) which many people rave about as being the best ever MF SLR body, but I'd take the RTS II any day of the week, and that's even before we've started talking about the lenses. That Oly is probably the thing that will get sold first if I decide to have an equipment cull.
Lynn, sorry to hear that you're leaving here, but I can fully understand it, I just spent 40 mins typing the above when I should have been doing other things! But I must add my voice to those who've said you'll be missed around here, and I hope to run into you again online. Meanwhile please feel free to drop me a direct mail anytime if there's anything you think I might be able to help you with.
TTFN
-= mike =-