Lots of helpful posts here.
As has been pointed out by several people here, the place to start really is to be very clear about what role your camera will be asked to fill.
As a pro architectural/idustrial shooter, my tech camera is my primary tool. However, the nature of my work and style is such that I primarily use it as a wide and ultrawide platform. My dream lens kit would be 23, 35 and 47mm lenses. It has to be light, portable, easily handholdable and part of an extensive system that I can grow with.
For the life of me, I cannot see how or why I would EVER need tilt with a 23mm and I have to date, never needed it with my 35mm. I have yet to have my images unsharp in any of the places both my clients and I have expected them to be sharp. If I was going to be regularly using lenses that are longer than 43mm, then perhaps the "I need tilt" argument would hold water. If you are in this camp, then the 80mm minimum focal length for the Alpa tilt adapter is a limitation.
However, if you are like me and view your tech cam as an extension of your lens range at the wide-angle to ultrawide end of the focal length range, then the need for tilt is moot.
I do like to use the Alpa tilt-adapter with my 150 for portraits (I used to do this a lot with my Fuji GX680) and for tabletop still life. This is just one example of how the sheer extent of options that is available from Alpa makes the system so versatile. (There are some examples of portraits on my website where I have run a narrow plane of focus tilted through the subjects head so only the eyes are in focus. Not so obvious at screen res, but awesome in print)
A couple of posts have mentioned manufacturer/dealer support. For me, as a working pro, this has always been a major factor. I expect my dealer or manufacturer to be extremely knowledgeable, accessible and responsive. One of my reasons for moving from Horseman to Alpa was the unbelievable support I get from the factory, even though I am in the Middle East and they are in Switzerland. I have never dealt with a manufacturer so focussed on their users needs as Alpa. A couple of the other brands that are supposedly represented here in the Middle East have dealers that know nothing (and I mean nothing) about the product they sell and in many cases do not have demo gear. To some extent I can accept the lack of demo gear as the volume of sales is small, but lack of product knowledge is just inexcusable. I'm sure there are lots of shooters in the smaller markets who share this frustration.
Shift is essential for what I do. In practice, due to limitations in image circle and the fact that with short lenses, small shifts in the image circle make quite big differences in view, I very rarely use more than 8mm of shift. Hence, for me, a camera that can shift lots more is unnecessary.
Once again, my advice is to work out what your real-world needs are, then buy appropriately.
On the subject of price, I'd say buy the right camera, pay the price once, then get on with enjoying USING it. There is nothing more frustrating than buying the slightly cheaper camera then wishing later you had ponied up the extra cash in the first place. All these cameras are expensive. Don't make it more expensive by having to sell your camera to upgrade later.
Cheers,
