[Poisson Du Jour]

LF and MF are quite often tripod based, giving limited movements of the camera, which may be fine for a static scene. However, I remember seeing a shot in Valencia which made me sprint to the location distance I wanted and once there I could adjust my angle/height to the exact composition I wanted (all in a very short time frame). This my overiding consideration for preference of 35mm.

I don't see how that can put 35mm head and shoulders in front of MF and LF, especially since MF and LF have bigger images, better resolultion and more flexibility in framing — automation is not needed; its endemic to 35mm and a very small number of MF cameras, and entirely absence on LF. You could have actually done exactly the same sprint and height adjustment with MF, but not particularly well with LF!

The majority of my EOS1N shots were tripod-mounted; I rarely used it 'freehand'. The quality of all those images speak for themselves: no hand-held blur or shake anywhere. All my 6x7 shots are tripod based, as are pinhole shots. No big deal to me to dock camera to tripod and undock and move on; been doing that for 26 years at least.

Remember that one format camera is not going to be universally suitable for all subject matter, especially as skills and diversity build up over time.