Whatever you chose, best to use a wide lens set to hyper-focal and
shoot from the hip. Or have a camera small enough to carry, operate
with one hand.

Good luck,

RP©

I would go back, instead of way better....What's wrong with one of the
better quality auto-focus point & shoots? With a 35 mm lens, they are ideal
for street photography, and they are only around $125 or less...... Find one
that is very quiet, and learn to use it without looking in the rangefinder,
kind of like shooting from the hip. No one will even know that you are
taking their picture.

I vote for trying your existing equipment using hyperfocal settings.
If that doesn't work, my favorite(s) film lenses for street work are a
35mm or 24/28mm lens.  It depends a bit on the congestion of the
street and the area architecture which one I use. I also like to
photograph the architecture in urban settings. The more congested the
street, the shorter the focal length. I often use a 24/35/50 combo
with a small SLR in dense urban settings. For general work a 28/50
combo is often enough. In each of these situations, the 50 adds
variety to the work and because of the angle of coverage of the other
WA lenses appears to be a short tele in the final analysis. I keep a
que card for the hyperfocal settings. For strictly street work, I'll
put the camera in MF (aperture preferred mode) and tape the lens at
the HF focus setting. I have a couple of bodies that don't have AE
mode, strictly manual. The choice between manual exposure or AE
exposure is personal and often a compromise between available
equipment, ease of use, skill and experience plus the patience of your
travel companions.

One of my favorite street cameras is the expensive but tiny Contax T3.
It's a P&S variety with the ability to set aperture preferred and
manual focus. I think it works pretty slick with ISO400 film and about
f8/11. The lens is the reason to have this camera, it's a wonderfully
crisp 35mm f2.8 mutlicoated lens.

There's a lot of choice in used equipment. I think one of the decision
points is whether you want to meter automagically (e.g. AE mode) or
manually. That narrows the selection quite a bit.

Good luck in your decisions, don't overlook what you already have.
FWIW: I have a friend who also likes this kind of photography. His kit
is the diminutive Nikon FG w/ a 28mm f2.8 AIS lens. He bought both as
"beaters" from KEH. They are ugly, the body is silver but he's
black-taped it, the body is "loud" but for the most part, the street
noise is much louder. His results are excellent.

Regards,
Roger

Ever hear of the company and camera called Leica?

http://www.leica-camera.com/index_e.html

Having sampled the delicious, delectable and desirable ladies of BA (at
least with my eyes) I can imagine what you are aiming for!

Find a good used rangefinder.  Or if you need a snappy, small and cheap
autofocus film SLR, any of the main OEM's offerings at the low end
should suffice.

It really depends on how discerning a lens buyer you are...

Cheers,
Alan.