That'll get you roasted and nitpicked for sure.
Actually, it's nice to see someone with no commercial influences putting all of these through their paces. Wish I had that sort of budget. Conclusions are, of course, subject to personal preferences and situations.
I don't tend to go over ISO1600, so M43 has suited me well in the compact department. Lens selection is excellent, and getting better. And the lenses are tiny, for what they can do.
Agree that you can usually spot a Leica shot, but for me it's not the colors, it's the sharp/soft rendering - razor sharp where it's sharp, buttery soft where it's soft, and a lovely falloff between the two. Sort of a 'dreamy' look, no one does it as well as Leica. When I hit the lottery, I'm flying to B&H to get an M9 and every freaking lens they have for it.
Never thought the Canon dslr's were particularly attractive either, but it's hard to argue with their killer telephotos. If Canon can ever get around to making a really good UWA, along the lines of the Nikkor 12-24 or ZD 7-14...
I found NEX frustrating as well. Elegant body design, until you put a lens on it.
Surprised to hear that about the D7000 - might want to recheck exposure mode. I've been watching D700 prices, but it's not cheap enough... yet...
My favorite 'inexpensive' Nikkor - an old MF 400 3.5 I picked up for a (relative) song. One stop down, it becomes very sharp, plus an excellent 2x TC that's also dirt cheap. Big whale of a lens, don't use it very often, but when you need it, there's no substitute.
