Elliot,
Good question. I haven't done a side-by-side comparison yet. But you bring up a good point. I've always had different film loaded in the cameras and only once taken a Leica and Nikon with me.
But what I should do is to take out the MP and maybe the F3, put them on a tripod and shoot exactly the same subject using the same film.
Just looking at photographs from each one, I can't tell much difference. Except when I have to shoot at full aperture than I can see a difference. And the Leica does look better.
Maybe one day I might consider trading the Nikon SLR equipment in for Leica SLR, but I think I'd take too much of a loss. And really, I am not all that enamored with P mode, etc. When I reach for a Nikon it's usually my F3HP and not my F100. Does the F100 have better metering, automatic fill (plus AF), etc than the F3. Yes, but the problem is undoing all these great auto-everything features so I can use the camera manually.
These auto-everything camera's have their place, but I've found that for what I like to do, that place is rather limited. It's only when I'm taking photo's at places or events that high speed shooting is the advantage that I like auto this, that and the other thing.
If I had known at the time when I purchased the F100 that it really wouldn't fit my shooting style I would not have gotten it. The F3 suits me fine. I'm not going to sell it, I have some use for it, but I found that I am not interested in buying a camera anymore hi-tech than the F3.
That's ultimately why I didn't buy the M7. The M7 is a fine camera, but it's automation is pretty much the same as the F3's. So having one hi-tech camera (the F100), one medium tech camera (the F3), it made sense to buy a low tech camera like the MP.
My wife has little interest in photography. But when she needs a camera she uses the F100. She tried the F3 once and found it too hard after taking one photo. When I showed her the MP she wanted to try it. She didn't even get the first photo when she gave up in frustration. Different cameras for different users.
I won't even broach the subject of digital...
Regards,
Bob