I have far more cameras than sense, which does at least qualify me to pass judgement on various options: SLR - there are actually quite a few options here. Firstly, AF SLRs - second-hand ones are now incredibly cheap, often in the £20-30 mark on ebay in the UK for the small, light variety. I have a Canon EOS 300 (Rebel something-or-other) that makes a very versatile and lightweight outfit with 28, 50 and 135mm primes. Next, manual-focus SLRs with electronics (and thus auto exposure) - my favourite lightweight camera here is the Contax 137 (also 167 and Aria, but not as light) - excellent camera with superb lenses that is very cheap these days. Other options - Nikon FE or FE2, Olympus OM2, OM4 - the Nikons are a touch bigger (same size as the FM series), the Olympuses a little quirky - but the OM4 has an excellent spotmeter which can be worth its weight in gold. Finally, mechanical/manual SLRs - the FM/FM2, Olympus OM1, Pentax MX. My personal favourite is the Pentax - both it and the Olympus feel smoother than the somewhat agricultural Nikons, as well as being smaller and lighter. The MX with 40mm pancake is particularly compact. All are nice options. Rangefinders: well, there are quite a few options these days. My two favourites are the Bessa R2 and the Leica CL - I scarcely use my Leica M6 or Bessas L and T, as the Leica is heavier than I need, the Bessa L too horribly plastic and impractical (no viewfinder or rangefiner, but it's fine for it's designed job as being a body dedicated to exreme wideangles) and the T isn't as solid as the R2, and doesn't have a viewfinder. The R2 is a very solid and competant machine, and I love the CL for its smaller size and the superb 40mm Summicron-C. Other options: there are several compact cameras that are potentially interesting: the Leica Minilux, Rollei 35 and Olympus XA and Mju II/Stylus Epic - all nice cameras that can do a very capable job - also several I have no experience of, such as the Contax T series. And then there's the Contax G series cameras - fabulous lenses, I personally don't get on with the cameras, but if you do, possibly the best option of all. So, what would I go for? Perhaps a Rolleicord? ;) Nick ___________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Model Search 2005 - Find the next catwalk superstars - http://uk.news.yahoo.com/hot/model-search/ --- Rollei List - Post to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx - Subscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'subscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org - Unsubscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org - Online, searchable archives are available at //www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list