This question is almost meaningless unless you state what kind of photography you do.
I'm a landscape painter. My primary interest is taking landscape photos to paint from so I use a Nikkor 50mm 1.8. Why 50mm? Because the angle of view is apropriate for a landscape painting. What I mean by that is, if you take say a 12" wide painting and hang it on a wall, the normal viewing distance is about arms length. The angle subtended by eyeballs to either side of the painting is about the same angle as a 50mm lens.
If I wish to zoom in on a distant feature, say an island on a salt marsh, I scan the slide and enlarge in photoshop. I think of this as my "digital zoom lens". Results may not be as good as shooting with a zoom lens. but it's adequate for my needs and saves carrying a lot of gear in the field.
Since most of my shots are taken in unusual places, out on a salt marsh, in a kayak, etc I use a robust Nikon FM-10 which will take as good a picture as any other camera when used with the correct lens and film.
I have a digital Sony 717 which takes wonderful pictures but is a b$%ch to use in the field, as are most dc's. Also, the Sony pics, while I call them "wonderful", do have a certain "clinically pure" look to them which I don't care for. So the 717 stays in the studio where I use it to put stuff up on me web site.