I am still scratchin' my head as to what equipment I am going to get also, but on the reverse end, because I am not a professional just an enthusiast. So I am not trying to decide between the 5D and the Mark III, but rather between the 5D, the 40D, and the Nikon D300.
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Full frame is nice because of the viewfinder, but the 40D has come close to that now also. If I were in your shoes, I'd get the 40D. Here's why:
1. Superior image quality all around.
2. Has all the updated technology.
3. Crop factor makes your 200mm lens a 320mm lens. You can get a 1.6 crop factor wide angle at I think 14mm (you can look that up on the canon site) also, which makes up the difference between buying longer and much more expensive telephotos.
4. Your 200mm will now be effectively 320mm, and that is a great way to photograph people, if you're interested in that.
5. The 40D is incredibly cheap, at about 1150US.
6. It has 10MPS! You can print nice 20x30 images with that.
7. You can buy nearly 3 40Ds for the cost of one updated 5D, or two for the price of one Nikon300D.
8. Do you really want and need to shoot in the rain? What are you, a combat journalist? LOL. Really though, photographing in really bad weather is not fun and not enjoyable. Some good shots can be made, like a few I saw from national Geographic of a sand storm in Death Valley, but doing that sort of photography doesn't happen too often, especially for non pros.
I wouldn't worry too much about weather sealing. I live in the pacific northwest and where I live we get 45-60 inches of rain average per year, and I have had no problems going on days that are not puring rain. I'm not saying it isn't worth having, just that I would not let it dictate your buying, not yet anyway.
In any event, if you are not a pro, you can get cheap insurance for your gear, like 200 a year, that pays full NEW price for it in the case you damage it. I use to have that, and my policy stated that if I dropped my camera and lens into the ocean, I'd get a full reimbursement of the receipt price. It doesn't work that way for pros.
I just got back for a day trip where I was snow showing and breaking trail. I had a minimal amount of gear with me, but it was snowing pretty good and about 30 degrees. I did set up my kit but it was a bitch trying to keep the lens clear and shoot something in that cold and wet enviro that was worth it. My camera is fine though and it's a 5D. On the other hand, I'm going back out tomorrow. snow shoes etc.
Hope this helps a little.
