[mhanc]

...What situations would I prefer the 35mm RF? I can think of a few. Low light.

...and the images that are made with Zeiss/Leica glass are just special, they really are. They just have a soul to them, they speak to you. That is the main reason I want one. It would also help me to photograph people more, something I don't do very often.

Brian:

1. In addition to low light, whenever portability and ease of use is important. I find that the more portable and easy to use that a camera is the more it gets used. When there is something that I want to photograph then I use a larger format, however, for walking around or more "spontaneous" photography the RF is the only way to go... for me.

2. There is a very distinct difference between Zeiss ZM and Leica lens, even to my very amateur eye. If you look at the examples on the LFI Gallery here: analogue and here: digital (many posts are taken with Zeiss lenses) you can judge for yourself and see if the difference is important to you. I can also see a very distinct difference between the types Leica lens: Summicron vs Summilux, etc. (I much prefer the look of the Summicrons)

Finally, I am in the process of selling down my camera herd to just the two that get used 95% of the time (TLR and RF) and my experience is that Leica does maintain (or even increase in) value.

All in all the RF is a fun and easy to use format and really suited for people and family photography. Good luck!