Great post, as it's about exactly what's been rattling around in my head recently. I love my 35mm rangefinder and I swoon constantly over my Mamiya 7, and even though the thought of primarily using an SLR on the street and a digital one at that kills me inside, the 5D, feels too hard to ignore. Recently the process of getting film, processing and scanning it has been a real photography turn off, not to mention the cumulative cost of shooting film. I even looked into maybe just processing all my stuff myself, but it didn't work out any cheaper, especially when you factor in the time spent actually developing films.

I hadn't really considered your suggestion of a small compact paired with the MF rangefinder. Something like that could be a really good option. One of my main problems is that I'm a complete film snob. If it's digital, I turn my nose up at it. It's a horrible attitude to have and recently it's something I've been trying to get rid of. This whole idea that I've somehow sold out if I start using digital.

I wish the Leica M8 was a "better" camera for what it cost.