That is some excellent advice, guys. Huck, I appreciate your advice on the L; it's been tempting me at $69. This made me start thinking about what the first priority should be. Is it better to go for a quality lens first and just get a body that'll carry the lens(i.e., the L) or should body compatibility be the first consideration(i.e., the 7/P or R)? The end goal for me I think is to not have to carry around the Canonet and an L at the same time. I guess I'm thinking the built-in VF/RF is key since I'll still usually be rolling with a 40 or 50 anyway and just switching to a wide, etc for variety.
What do you guys think about the Lens-first versus Body-first approaches? I really need to keep it around $300 for now, so that combo, although excruciatingly tempting, is probably out. The options could be:
Lens-priority:
1. L with the 25/4 or 35/2.5, keep looking for a 7/P.
Body-priority
1. 7(I think the P's a longshot) and a J-8, etc.
2. R with a J-8 or something and a nicer lens later.
Oh, another concern I have with the L is the flash situation. I know alot of people think flash is uncool, but I'm shooting in clubs and bars alot, so it's pretty important, especially if I'm using a relatively slow wideangle. How annoying would it be to have a side bracket flash on the L with a 35-50? I'd rather just have the thing synched on a shoe. This is why I'm thinking built-in VF.
Continuing thanks,
Ben
Any and all thoughts welcome again!