Rangefinder daydreams

M glass seems to be the best rangefinder glass, being a student with a fairly limited budget

Don't bother with "the best" unless you have a rich daddy. Rangefinders won't turn you into Salgado or Goldin anyway.

Get a Nikon FG with 85/2 or 100/2.8 Series E. Small, cheap and fun. Use the change for film and developing. The Bessa T requires auxillary viewfinders (more parallex errors with tele lenses) and will be slower than your point and shoot.

James, the M glass is generally very special. But I would agree there are so many factors that go into making great images and artwork. This thread made me think a bit about recently shooting my old Canon FD camera and lenses. My results were far better than I recall getting some 25 years ago when I traded most of it for a Nikon system, thinking I would get better images.

What I recently realized is that I had grown as a photographer, and probably wasn't as capable as I am now. So unless you have some spare change to burn, spend time working with the images you take (I mean really working with them). Try processing them in different ways, print them, mat and frame them, look at them. Work with an image you like and see how far you can take it. Once you understand what you are capable of doing for a single image, spend more time on others. Once you fully grasp what you're after, then re-evaluate what your needs are and see if it is still a Leica M.

A rangefinder will bring a new dimension to your photography. They definitely handle differently than SLRs. I too have Canon F-1s and love the 85mm f1.2 L, but it can't replace the rangefinders for many applications. Sounds like you are looking for a rangefinder with 25, 28, or 35mm lenses. I would recommend the Bessa R2 with an onboard rangefinder/viewfinder. The Bessa T is more of a special purpose platform and its external viewfinder is not suited to backpacking. You run the risk of losing or breaking the external viewfinder. The Bessa series is affordable, but a bit on the light side for backpacking. They are good machines, but if you are going to rough it, you are really best served by a used Leica M2, if you can afford it. They are built like tanks and will take all the punishment you can dish out.

If your photos are boring, changing to a rangefinder will not make them exciting. Before I would think about making a radical change in equipment, I would try to reach a point with my current gear that I didn't think my photos were boring. As someone pointed out above, an RF is not going to make you into Salgado or Golden. The only thing that is going to improve your photography (you already own excellent quality gear) is shooting a LOT of photos. Time and experience. There really is no shortcut.

". . . i want to invest in is not going to be for this kind of photography, not some large SLR with ridiculous telezooms, but a more subtle camera (my F-1 + 85mm is not subtle) so i can capture people without drawing too much attention to myself, . . ."

I'd suggest a TLR. Many models are inexpensive, the waist level finder makes it possible to frame and shoot to the side, and the larger film area will have much better tonality than 35mm. One of my favorites is the Minolta Autocord, but there are other excellent choices, too. Look at Rolleicords, too.

Remark about the BessaT. Of course it need an external viewer what means, as allready said, plenty of limitations (no parallax correction, risk of damaging or losing it, "double targeting"...).
BUT! That's a fantastic camera because:
a) It have the widest Effective Base Length of approximately 53.7, or more than the Leica M .72 finder. In other words, the T is currently the only Bessa able to accurately focus long or fast lenses.
b) With small wide lens, it's a small camera, so you can keep it unnoticed under your jacket. And with some pratice it's very fast to drop it in your jacket pocket while removing the finder (before storing it in your shirt pocket).
c) Finaly, the best characteristic for street/bus/subway shooting is the external 3 LEDS display of the meter. Set the lens on hyperfocus and without been noticed you can see if the light is good or not.

For sure, it have plenty of limitation but I never travel without mine and the 15, 25 and 90 lenses, my wife using her Bessa R2A with 35 or 50 lenses. OK, I have to admit that I borrow her time to time because the viewfinder is usefull ;-)
Last remark, the Bessa T 101 Heliar Anniversary model, is stronger due to metalic dials (plastic on normal version).

There's other notable small SLRs. Olympus OM-series. Pentax MX (a jewel).
If you're willing to deal with an external light meter, consider any screwmount Leica, or the screwmount Canons. Lots cheaper than Leica M, and plenty of very fine lenses.

This is always a difficult question to respond to, as we cannot put ourselves in your shoes. You have some fine equipment already and if you are simply shooting your town at night and not dealing too often with fast-moving people shots under low light, a rangefinder may not help you more than your current system. If you can find a friend with a rangefinder who would allow you to swap systems for a few days, you might be able to answer your question more confidently.

Having said that, there are a few possibilities of low cost RF cameras that you might consider as a first step into RF photography and with the potential of results similar to a full Leica M system.

a) I have a T Bessa which does not get much use, but I agree with Jean M.'s remarks about its utility, despite its somewhat more cumbersome operating function under certain conditions (Possessing also a used M camera body, I am seriously thinking about selling mine together with a 50mm viewfinder and V-C Nokton f1.5 aspherical lens with M mount adapter, if I don't retain the lens and VF for my IIIf Leica body-which of course is handicapped slightly by no built-in meter);

b) The Bessa R RF cameras with M mount may be a reasonable-cost entry into Leica M lens usage, but you probably know that small production Leica optics are very expensive, and especially those with wide apertures. The difference between them and the lesser price Voigtlander-Cosina or Zeiss ikon (-Cosina) lenses is not all that great in my mind, especially given other constraints of the small (24 x 36mm) format for larger size print production (Note that Sebastien Salgado eventually preferred medum format cameras for his work, although I know not what he uses today);

c) If Leica glass is a fairly far off prospect (given your present student situation), you might think of getting a used Konica Hexar fixed lens (35mm f2 lens, that is said to equal in many ways the classic 1980s Leica M Summicron 35mm f2 interchangeable lens, particularly for smooth out of focus rendition) camera that is also available in a super quiet "stealth" version, making it very suitable for street shooting. These should be available in mint condition for around 1/2 the cost of the older M Summicron 35mm lens, alone.

Good luck with your project.

They're kind of hard to find, but, I'd look for a used Zeiss Ikon rangefinder (new model), and then get Zeiss ZM glass. You can add Leica glass to the same body at a later date.