The Essential Photo Kit?

[KenC]

For this purpose, (walking around the city) the whole thing has to fit in a medium-size backpack and be out of sight, so this is what I use:

Canon XTi
70-300 IS
50/1.8
Canon G6 (soon to be G11)

I think you could really get away without the first three items. The G11 doesn't have the full reach of the 300, but I would think that level of telephoto in city shots would not be needed often.

You will have a 50/2.8 on the G11; that is close enough to make the 1.8 unnecessary.

Yeah, I actually don't use the 50/1.8 much, but the zoom is essential. I was in NYC this weekend and was able to get some good shots across Eighth and Ninth avenues that would not have been possible with the G6. It's also good for its telephoto flattening effect, which isn't really there on the G6 for the same reason the DOF on the G series is so great - the lens actually is an extreme wide angle (7-28mm) whose image is cropped, so it's not a real telephoto even at 140.