[charlesphoto99]

Well, I have to respectfully disagree with the above. Sometimes there's little light yet one wants to still shoot with reasonable f stops and shutter speeds. Not everyone owns (or wants to own) a Noctilux. I'll take a D3 any day over that chunk. Here's a shot with a $200 Nikon 24 f/2.8 AFD. ISO 1600 at 1/60th at f4.8. I literally had no more room to back up in this room. Something to be said for full frame. The D3 also handled the dynamic range of this shot admirably. The M8 might have done a bit better in the shadows but would have made a mess of those window highlights. This has no noise reduction on it btw and si straight from LR. Give me a while in PS and I could really make it sing.

Keep in mind Dave that the Nikon 14-24 zoom and 24-70 zoom even on a D300 wipe out that portability and incognito factor. The 14-24 esp has a 2001 HAL like quality about it. One reason I'm sticking with primes (may pick up a 24-70 for comercial purposes). Personally I'm really glad i took the plunge and went for the D3 (from a D200). For travel though the M8 is great but the D3 is great for getting the job done. If you like to shoot wide then get the full frame.