I had an M6. (Had as in past tense.) Loved it immensely. But digital beckoned. Sold it to get the D2 which I felt was respectable in terms of digital quality and traditional Leitz optics. Since then I'd purchased two other digitals, the Ricoh GR-Digital and the Lumix LX-1 (Panasonic's version of the D-Lux). The Ricoh was a fine camera with a fixed 28mm lens. The camera, alas, was fried when I took it on a Heli-hiking trip in British Columbia and moisture got into its LCD. I then got an LX-1 and fashioned a finder holder on it by gluing on a Voigtlander accessory holder which fit perfectly between the mode dial and flash to hold a 28mm viewfinder so I wouldn't have to make a weird face as I examined the LCD after every shot. The optics were good but the LX-1 had ISO limitations (RAW was, by the way, quite good).
I wanted something with a larger sensor. The M8, unfortunately, was out of the question. So I considered getting a bona fide DSLR either the Nikon D700, D90 or D300 or the Pentax K20D with the idea of getting some nice prime Zeiss optics to mount on them like the 25mm f2.8, the 50mm f2.0 and the 85mm f2.0. (Of the two marques I was leaning toward Nikon because of the rave reviews of their better wide angle zooms.)
The problem was, like Goldilocks had observed, current DSLR's are just tooooo damned big. Even the Pentax. I'd seen others lugging their behemoths around like boulders and it seemed (and with the heft of the D700 in particular) just to be too much. I wanted something smaller and more unobtrusive so I could go about and snap away with a smaller, more manageable device.
Then I read about the G1. And the possibilities. With either the fine Zuiko lenses that some have been raving about or the even better possibility of the optical jewels of the rangefinder world, Zeiss and of course Leitz.
Sure these other lenses meant manual focus but I had been used to focusing manually with the D2. And with an EVF that's a hundred times clearer than the one in the D2, the G1 was certainly worth looking into (both figuratively and literally).
What's more Pop Photo (as I'd mentioned on another post) appeared to have shown that under certain conditions (ISO of 400 or less) noise-wise, color wise and image-wise the G1 is on a par with some of the best DSLR's out there. So with some better and faster optics, the possibilities of a smallish, high quality shooter rose exponentially.
Like a previous poster, my D2 is also with Leitz (only instead of a new sensor I'm getting a new button and metering switch). And as for the LX-1? Well, let's say it's been kinda funky reading SD cards. (Often without warning the camera tells me there's no card and I have to remove the card and re-insert it and things are fine again. When I'd reformatted the card this anomally continues so I'd been using the LX-1 less and less.
So I got G1. And have really enjoyed it. I take it out as often as I can. And am looking forward to using it with the Summilux 35 and 50 that I still have as well as the Zuiko 12-60mm f2.8 zoom. And any other fine optic that can be mounted securely and properly in front of its sensor.
Peter
Peter