These are exciting times for photographers. We have an incredibly flexible array of gear from which to choose. In my film days, my 4x5 was the default; if I could not bring it, (weather, weight, whatever) the next choice was the 6x6 (Hasselblad), for hikes, and travel, there was the Mamiya 7, arguably the best quality to weight ratio in the world of film. For me, film is in the past, though.
I now am fortunate to have a Nikon D800E, relatively quick, easy, and portable compared to the 4x5, and with impressive image quality with good lenses. I also have an Olympus OM-D with a couple of primes. It makes pretty good images, not up to the D800E but for under 16x20 size prints, sensor real estate and pixels do matter up to a point.
My real question, after all this, is how do people choose what camera to bring, assuming decent shooting conditions and short of a 5 mile uphill hike? I wonder if a lot of us "serious" "fine art" photographers are simply aging and unable/unwilling to lug around gear that did not faze us in our youth. In the past, a couple of times, I brought two or even three camera systems. It was a pretty funny sight at a John Sexton Workshop in Monument Valley years ago to see me with a 4x5, Hasselblad AND D200. I suffered mightily from the simple inability to decide which camera to use. Never will I do that again, it was colossally embarassing. The current fashion (I won't say fad because it's not really that) is to go small, unless one's needs are pretty specialized, eg long telephoto for sports or wildlife or the need for billboard sized prints. The MFT and APS-C cameras such as the Fuji X series make these decisions quite difficult. I admit I am a bit of an equipment nut. I do really LOVE cameras and especially lenses, but on a given day???
Yesterday our local group did an architectural shoot at a local college with lovely buildings. A surprising number had view cameras, even an 8x10 and a 5x7 were there. But there was also me with my D800E and a friend who is a superb photographer with a wonderful eye for composition with his Fuji X (and he used an 8x10 just a couple of years ago, then a D3X, and now the Fuji X).
Thoughts on this conundrum would be appreciated.