I'm sure this topic comes up often (though it didn't show up when I searched -- maybe I missed a step). Apologies in advance if I'm covering old ground. Am also aware that you're primarily a landscape crowd, but am hopeful you'll tolerate an urban person...
I've been a film-based street photographer and I'm looking to switch to digital. Am wondering what digital equipment other street shooters are using, and how they're approaching the work.
I've shot most recently with a Leica M6, and I've enjoyed it, but I'm not a Leica zealot. Have also worked with a Contax G2, and a while ago used SLRs (not recently).
Like most street shooters, I'm trying to reconcile features that may not go together in digital -- small camera, easy handling, unobtrusive, quick shutter and quick shot to shot times. I've learned enough to understand that I'm going to have to trade off some of these to get at some others.
One more complication -- I shoot a lot with a 28mm lens (I like 35 but sometimes it seems a little tame and confining).
Cameras I've looked at so far...
Canon G3 (and a couple other "prosumer" digicams -- Minolta 7hi, Leica Digilux, Nikon Coolpix 5000). Some of them get to 28mm equivalence, others don't. Image quality is variable -- sometimes good (I like grain and I'm not a last detail fanatic). Unobtrusive, yes. You blend in with the tourists. But fast?\
Nikon D100 -- big box by comparison, but like I said I've been away from SLRs. With a zoom it screams "camera!" Not sure if that's entirely a bad thing. I like provoking a reaction where people look into the lens, and I've never bought into the idea that the Leica didn't look like a camera (maybe in 1925 it didn't, but now it does).
Fujifilm S2 Pro -- beautiful, emotional color/tonality. But bigger box. Fast enough shutter? Are weird batteries a problem?
Canons -- haven't looked at them in detail. The guy I study printing with hates them. But fast, I hear. And smaller zooms than Nikon.
Final question -- zooms or primes? Yes, I know the optical issues and the convenience issues. Am thinking here about the digital context. How terrified should I be of dust on the sensor? I've heard everything from "you should keep one lens on the camera most of the time" (that argues for zooms) to "no problem, you just clean the sensor." Primes would certainly make a DSLR easier to handle...
Thanks for any help you can give to someone who's on the first block of this particular street...
Alan