Our house has been the target of a lot of cleaning since Safer at Home started not quite four months ago. So far, none of it has threatened nor come close to any photographic equipment, but it has nevertheless set me thinking, especially in light of the question asked in a recent post around why photographers shave multiple cameras.

I have been fortunate to progress through a number of cameras since switching from film in 2006. That certainly doesn't take me back to the beginning of digital photography, but it does reach way back into the period of more rapid development and progress in the medium. My recent thinking has been this: If you were required to go forward with only one digital camera and one lens, which ones would you choose? I realize that some of us may have only one camera, and may have only had one camera. Others of us may have worked through more different models than were ever necessary (or even beneficial). As an example, here is a list showing the path that I have followed. I'm only going to list cameras, because my lens library is pretty typical. It covers 14mm - 500mm, with f/2.8 capability at 200mm and below. And there are some slower lenses also. Anyway... here is the camera list. I still have those below the solid line.

Nikon P3 (zoom point & shoot from somewhere around 2005 used at work)
Fuji S3 Pro
Nikon D200
Nikon D300
_________________
Nikon D300s
Nikon D810
Nikon D850
Nikon D500

These are listed in the order that I acquired them.

So here are the rules (or guidelines, for those of you who don't like rules) for responding.

--You don't have to provide a list like the one I made just above. It was meant to illuminate your thinking.
--The camera you choose must be one that you own or have previously owned.
--No salivating over some camera that has always been on your wishlist (although you can also tell us about it)
--Some statement validating your choice is required. Doesn't have to be a dissertation, just give us an idea.
--Keep it civil. This question is about what you would do. It does not require that you critique someone else's choice, especially mine.

One of the reasons that I am posing this to the group is that my choice was a little bit of a surprise to me. I would keep the D500 and my 24-120 mm f/4 Nikkor lens. The reasons are pretty simple...outstanding images, reasonable file sizes, durable construction, excellent performance, high "usability." The 24-120 lens provides a good mix of flexible performance, reasonable focal length range, and good quality images. Is the combination perfect? NO, but it is manageable and will cover a very high percentage of what I shoot with a little bit of accommodation. I'll have to adjust my approach to night sky photography, but will not have to give it up. Things will just require a little more work and time.

I'm curious if any of you make a surprising choice when you stop to think about it. I'm anxious to read what you would do.

Our house has been the target of a lot of cleaning since Safer at Home started not quite four months ago. So far, none of it has threatened nor come close to any photographic equipment, but it has nevertheless set me thinking, especially in light of the question asked in a recent post around why photographers shave multiple cameras.

I have been fortunate to progress through a number of cameras since switching from film in 2006. That certainly doesn't take me back to the beginning of digital photography, but it does reach way back into the period of more rapid development and progress in the medium. My recent thinking has been this: If you were required to go forward with only one digital camera and one lens, which ones would you choose? I realize that some of us may have only one camera, and may have only had one camera. Others of us may have worked through more different models than were ever necessary (or even beneficial). As an example, here is a list showing the path that I have followed. I'm only going to list cameras, because my lens library is pretty typical. It covers 14mm - 500mm, with f/2.8 capability at 200mm and below. And there are some slower lenses also. Anyway... here is the camera list. I still have those below the solid line.

Nikon P3 (zoom point & shoot from somewhere around 2005 used at work)
Fuji S3 Pro
Nikon D200
Nikon D300
_________________
Nikon D300s
Nikon D810
Nikon D850
Nikon D500

These are listed in the order that I acquired them.

So here are the rules (or guidelines, for those of you who don't like rules) for responding.

--You don't have to provide a list like the one I made just above. It was meant to illuminate your thinking.
--The camera you choose must be one that you own or have previously owned.
--No salivating over some camera that has always been on your wishlist (although you can also tell us about it)
--Some statement validating your choice is required. Doesn't have to be a dissertation, just give us an idea.
--Keep it civil. This question is about what you would do. It does not require that you critique someone else's choice, especially mine.

One of the reasons that I am posing this to the group is that my choice was a little bit of a surprise to me. I would keep the D500 and my 24-120 mm f/4 Nikkor lens. The reasons are pretty simple...outstanding images, reasonable file sizes, durable construction, excellent performance, high "usability." The 24-120 lens provides a good mix of flexible performance, reasonable focal length range, and good quality images. Is the combination perfect? NO, but it is manageable and will cover a very high percentage of what I shoot with a little bit of accommodation. I'll have to adjust my approach to night sky photography, but will not have to give it up. Things will just require a little more work and time.

I'm curious if any of you make a surprising choice when you stop to think about it. I'm anxious to read what you would do.

The idea that the Term “DSLR” should generally imply an APSC format was common some years ago, but time has left that behind now that FF has been affordable for a few years.
OTOH the crop factors involved were also plainly stated so there’s no need to pretend the post was unclear. It was understandable ... despite a moment’s pause while reading it, to catch that it was it was indeed a use of the “old meaning” of DSLR.
We got users saying all kinza weird stuff, such as “mirrorless dslr” and such. Just gotta roll with it ;-)

Yes - interesting - so when we wish to refer to types of camera what should we use? MILC can refer to all three sensor sizes. DSLR can refer to APS-C but also to FF, and either can mean with EVF or Mirror. M43 is the only specific (2x crop and EVF).
So - perhaps for:
Full Frame - D35E (Digital 35mm with EVF). or D35M (with Mirror). Alternatively DFFE etc.
For Crop - DAPSE (Digital 1.5 crop with EVF). or DAPSM (with mirror).
For Micro 4/3 - M43 (Digital 2x crop with EVF).