If you haven't put any data on the card you could recover the pictures with a file recovery program. They are available on-line and some are free.

That is a generalization and does not apply to many lenses. Most of my prime lenses are best at around f/5.6 and the Nikon 35mm AF-S DX f/1.8 I have is actually best at f/4. You can find resolution charts for most lenses on the internet.

In the olden days I used to schlepp a bag full of lenses and 2 camera bodies when on vacation only to use a short zoom most of the time. Nowadays I take my old D3300 with a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 for general walkaround and a 35mm f/1.8 at night or when going on hikes. I don't shoot for billboard size prints and so I can crop in post when necessary. Never missed, needed or cared for super zooms. Should any of the equipment get dinked or damaged it can be replaced for a reasonable price.

Yes, and my daddy can beat up your daddy!

I completely agree with you! My idea of a convenience zoom is a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 for example instead of the 35mm f/1.8 prime on a DX camera.

A good photographer knows that this is complete bullshit!

There are certain factors you should consider.

First of all it depends on what kind of lens collection you already have. If most of your lenses are DX then you should consider another DX body preferably a D7100, D7200 or D7500. The D500 is certainly nice but is more of a dedicated sports and wildlife camera and is considerably more expensive. Remember though buying a D7x00 will buy you a better all-around camera with better features but if you are looking for an improvement in picture quality you might be setting yourself up for disappointment.

If you already have a collection of full-frame lenses than a D610 or D750 might be what you are looking for. Prices have come down because of the new Nikon mirrorless cameras and they provide similar features to the D7x00 cameras but better low-light capabilities.

The Nikon mirrorless Z cameras are certainly an option but do not come cheap and even with the S to F mount adapter you are still looking at a completely different lens mount and S mount lenses are not cheap.

Btw, I also have a D3300 which is my "bang around" and vacation camera. If it ever dies I will replace it with another D3300 because of it's size, weight and overall picture quality (in decent light).

Well, I just bought a new full-frame camera and a couple of lenses so if anything I shoot more than before.

I am retired and we are still able to travel within the country (Guatemala) where we live.

We usually rent clean and disinfected airbnb houses where we go and the local population is usually very good wearing masks and dealing with the COVID situation.

I know I might get stones thrown at me here but I just don't understand the fascination with these huge range convenience zooms.

None of these convenience zooms will give you a particularly sharp picture over their entire zoom range. They often produce weird distortions, many have autofocus issues and they all fall short when it comes to any low-light capability.

So if that's what you think you need to have and you don't care about the shortcomings then why not just buy one of the super zoom cameras and be done with it.

So my suggestion would be to use instead a good quality short to medium range zoom with a large constant aperture of 2.8 and a nice stabilised telephoto somewhere in the 50-300mm range (for APS-C) if the need arises.

I personally use a very sharp Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 for travel on my crop frame Nikons and never felt the need for a lens with a larger zoom range. It is relatively small and light and will also handle most low light situations fairly well which comes in handy when taking no-flash pictures in poorly lit churches and museums.

With most modern 24 megapixel cameras you can get away even with tighter crops which eliminates the need for the extra Tele Zoom range in most instances as long as you don't plan to print billboard size pictures.

I do have a 55-300 Tele which now just stays at home and collects dust and for more specific type of shooting I use several large aperture prime lenses.

My suggestion would be Capture One Express.

This is the simplified version of Capture One and can be downloaded FOR FREE!!! for your specific brand of camera.

It will do everything you ask for now and should you later on decide you need more powerful tools you can upgrade to the fully featured version.

Capture One is a Lightroom competitor from the same company that makes the High-End Medium Format Phase One cameras.

Oh, and it will handle your camera-specific RAW files.

Wow!!! Take a chill pill dude! If you would have looked at my profile you would have seen that I also have a D7200 which has the politically correct two card slots. Would I take a D3300 to a paying job? Probably not!
To a nice afternoon stroll? You bet your a$$!

In my opinion the D3300 is a great and much underappreciated camera and if used within it's limitations it can give you excellent results. It's what I take when I am out and about. I usually stick either a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 or the Nikon AF-S DX 35mm f/1.8 on it which are sharp, lightweight and make the combo easy to carry. I know, the camera snobs complain that there are just not enough buttons but when I'm out and about I shoot mostly in aperture priority with Auto ISO 100-1600 and a minimum 1/125 shutter speed. There! Single dial and needless button pushing problem solved! I have back button focus enabled with single point autofocus and I exclusively shoot RAW. With a decent lens the picture quality is excellent and pretty much indistinguishable from much more expensive cameras as long as the lighting conditions are halfway decent. You can pick these up used or refurbished with a kit lens for under 300 bucks which is an absolute bargain considering the picture quality you get. Spend another 100 bucks on a used 35mm DX prime and you got a killer walk around and street photography combo. And when it croaks (which mine hasn't done yet) you just toss it in the trash.

Shut up and spend your (hard earned) money!

You must have "fat-fingered" copying your files at some point to wind up with just thumbs.

Check if the NEF (RAW) file bit-depth on your D7200 is set to 14-bit lossless compressed.

According to the D7200 manual 14-bit NEF (RAW) files are larger than 12-bit compressed NEF (RAW) files.

Your D3400 is only capable of recording 12-bit compressed NEF (RAW) files which are smaller than the 14-bit lossless NEF (RAW) files of the D7200 and this would explain the difference you're describing.