Equipment reduction: from APS-C down to 1" sensor?

I recently came to (sort of) terms with my photo gear when traveling by plane. Easy one as bulk and weight are limited!
Right now, I use Sony RX10 IV as main body when I need to cover a lot of focal length range here, 24-600mm equivalent.
A Sony RX 100VII serves me as my lightweight and my backup body. It is also nice for casual walking trips and even some street photography.
The range seems practical, 24-200mm equiv.
For car based travel, I am still thinking to take additionally my APS-C system with prime lenses, as well when I have time for more serious work (which is not too often).

Looking over the images of the past years, it seems to me that I seem to like to record images rather than to artistically create images during our trips.
Although there are some occasional lucky artistic shots which I really enjoy.
Most of the times, I think that a 20MP 1" sensor camera is actually good enough for my needs and it is so damn convenient. Even more so, since I am a hobby photographer and not doing any professional type of work.
I also love about the Sonys that I do not need to worry about changing lenses (as with MLC system).
The working range of 24-200mm is very nice to cover a lot of ground while on tour, whereas the 24-600mm is very nice for general nature photography and close-ups.
Only on rare occasions, I seem to miss my ultra wide lenses 15-20mm, mainly for interiors where panorama mode doesn't work to well.

Because of the good results I am getting with my Sony cameras, I am contemplating to stop pixel peeping and to sell my APS-C system in order to streamline and to focus. No way that I will ever go full frame because this stuff is insanely expensive and, way to bulky and heavy for me.
But then, I am also frightened to go down this final path because of the potential loss of money.

What do you guys think about ditching that "headaches" causing system or, did you do it already?
I know on DPR there were a few who exchanged their system for a RX10 IV...

Looking forward to an interesting discussion here.

And why not a good smartphone?

I thought about it, but I do a lot of other stuff with my SP and, to my best knowledge, currently all top of the line models do not allow to add extra storage via micro SD cards.
The RX cameras produce much better IQ than my current phone A71. I use for snapshots at times though.

About the “potential loss of money “…

If I have gear that sits in the shelf, it becomes valueless to me. I simply ship it off to one of the used gear dealers for whatever they will give me and use the proceeds to purchase gear I will use. No angst…

Personally, I don't like using my iPhone, I feel no pleasure! And I love DSLR/ML cameras too much
But we must admit the immense progress of these little wonders over the past ten years, and that's just the beginning.

I hear ya....

I moved "up" from 1/2.3" sensor to 1" and see no reason to go larger. ISO up to 3200-6400 is fine for me when viewed at 100% (DXO-PL6 with Topaz Sharpen as needed). Here are some samples. www.flickr.com/photos/32989985@N07/albums/72157719453957168

You have very nice pictures 👍🏻

Thank you

I jumped from a Panasonic FZ150 to a Sony A6000 APS-C camera. I quickly got weary of swapping lenses. I also missed the 600mm reach of the FZ150. So, I jumped on the RX10iii. Interestingly, I found my IQ between the APS-C camera and the RX10iii to be extremely close. Granted I was using the kit lenses on the A6000.

So here I was, one camera with a 24mm to 600mm range or a camera with a couple of lenses and a sensor that seemed to need cleaning every other lens swap. Both cameras showing very similar results. Yes, I could dial in more ISO with the APS-C sensor before the noise got too objectionable, but I did not do a lot of low light shooting. I wanted to simplify and lighten my camera load.

I sold the A6000 with no regrets. The RX10 covers all my needs, and I don't have to tote a bag of accessories with it. Yes, I did move up to the RX10iv.

I have hauled the RX10iv around the world on numerous trips. It serves me well. I cannot come up with enough valid reasons to upgrade my present arsenal of gear to include larger sensor cameras. I tried. But it would take at least three lenses and a body just to cover my present zoom range and probably $3,000 to $4,000. I still think I would have the sensor dust issue also.

So, I might not be able to submit my photos to National Geographic, but they are certainly sufficient for my needs.

Everybody's needs are different, as are their IQ requirements. You won't be giving up very much going from APS-C to 1".

Cloud storage doesn't cost much these days. You can also use one or two of These as an external backup.

Truth is, phone cameras has gotten insanely good over the last couple of years to the point that I don't worry about leaving my aps-c at home.

Dan

Rx100 + smartphone for ultrawide/panorama = ideal compact combo!

I recently let go of a Fuji X-T4 and a number of lenses, after two years. The RX10 1" sensor seems plenty good enough for what I do. It's really nice just having one camera and a spare battery in the field, rather than juggling a case full of lenses and making constant changes. My end uses are online posts and small prints, and to be honest I don't see a great difference.

I have a wide range of photography gear and interests. At one time I maintained a very nice m43 collection (5 bodies, numerous lenses) as well as Pentax apsc and Sony ff. However my Sony RX100IV convinced me to jettison the m43 systems. The reason was simple; I could get good enough travel photos using the RX100 and the maintaining of the complete ecosystems was too much.

The one complaint is the lack of external controls on the rx100 making it harder to use when I want more creative control.

At this point I still travel with the Sony or Pentax when I know I have a photographic opportunities and the time to play with them. But the rx100 often goes along even then as my backup and my carry everywhere option.

I do also use my iPhone… but the ergonomics are even worse than the rx100 which makes it a bit less useful than the sensor and lens system would otherwise be.

Thank you to all who replied this far!
Some food for thought...
I hope to read more opinions since more and more members from DPREVIEW are coming over here.
End of June I will travel 3 weeks to the USA (St.Louis area and 1 week New York City).
I will take RX10IV and RX100 VII for this.
During fall, we will stay 2 weeks at the Costa Brava in Spain. As we travel by car then, I can take more gear. I will bring the APS-C system with some primes then.
Happy Eastern!

PS: The latest Samsung phone has caught my interest, but I hold back for now.

In our family we moved gradually from APS-C (Sigma) + 1" (RX100) to Full Frame (Sigma) + Phone (Samsung S/Note). I'm a prime shooter, so in your place I maybe would have kept the APS-C camera and upgraded my phone.

However, the RX10 combines a great zoom range with a really nice tactile experience, so I would consider leaving both the APS-C and the RX100 at home and see if the Phone + RX10 combination is enough?

You might enjoy a trip to B&H while you're in NYC, even if you don't intend to shop

For walking around travel photography I currently prefer to go as light as possible. I have a Pixel 6a and a Canon G5X II. The G5X is a 1" sensor, 24-100mm equivalent. I find it much more usable than the Sony RX 100s.

The main limitation for me with the 1" sensor cameras is the lack of anything wider than 24mm equivalent. The advantages compared to the 6a are DOF and shutter speed control and higher resolution, all of which are less of an issue than I anticipated, and much better ergonomics. The advantages of the 6a are an ultrawide lens, bigger screen, on device editing and computational photography. The phone is very good at low light photography and it's much easier than taking a burst and combining later in software, carrying a tripod (not allowed in many places) or a large aperture lens (especially if I want deeper DOF). I'm using the phone more and more.

It helps that essentially everything I photograph is a static subject that doesn't need shutter speed or DOF control.

For these purposes, I don't see any real advantage to a larger sensor or carrying more gear, so I'm with you.