On the silly aspirational list I think the LS911 is going to be the winner.

For realistic, general purpose camera usage, pretty much any Canikon from the last 5 years will do most things fine.

So your current camera frustrates you and you are on the fence about spending $800+ to eliminate that frustration? The second worst camera is the one that you don't enjoy using because it frustrates you. (The worst is the one not with you.)

Maybe the desire is GAS, but this actually feels like you have a reasonable limitation on your current camera, and believe that the upgrade will reduce or eliminate that limitation: This sounds like a fairly obvious decision if you can afford the cost. The question of waiting? Well, there will always be something better released next-year. Unless the successor has been announced with a credible timeframe, choose from what is on the market today, or you will never actually choose.

The only additional thought I would have is can you borrow/rent a D750 before the sale ends to test drive one? Can you buy on a "30 day return"? Either of these options would reduce the "risk" of the upgrade not delivering what you are hoping for.

First answer: What your friends use. If that's Pentax or MFT, or Sony-A mount, it doesn't matter. Being able to share lenses and system knowledge is worth more than the technical differences between lines.

Second answer: Which ever fits better in your hand and pocket. A camera that you find comfortable to hold and carry is better than a camera you left at home, any and every time.

Third answer: Both. Without know what you want to photograph, it's very hard to make any sensible recommendations. For example, if your plan is to spend the next 10 years lurking next to the hummingbird feeder trying to get the perfect hummingbird photo, you have different requirements than if you plan to spend them hiking through Alaska trying to get photos of moose. Both are wildlife photography though. For the hummingbirds (I suspect) long fast lenses and good autofocus are going to be key features with size and weight not really mattering much. For hiking to see the moose, size and weight are going to important: every gram of camera system you are carrying is a gram less food.

Canon is enormously popular with professionals because Canon Professional Services is (supposedly, I'm not a pro) far superior to the Nikon and Sony equivalents. Price for price, there isn't much to choose between Canon and Nikon. Even if Nikon have a marginal price advantage in bodies, Canon generally have the price advantage in lenses. Again, this feeds into what do you want to photograph.

You don't say if you are flying or driving to the ship. If driving, I would say take the primes along for the ride, as they should be faster than the zooms. On the last cruise we did, I ended up with shooting with the aperture wide open for some of the internal spaces: The hot-shoe flash didn't really have the power and the ambient light was pretty low to non-existent. If you don't want to take them ashore with you, leave them in the cabin.

Obviously if flying, baggage constraints apply.

What ever Canon one she has on a low-mid range Canon body?

I am a firm believer in "sharing the system" with friends who are also into photography. :)

I am aware of how old the camera is, I purchased it new. The 5D isn't much younger.

The camera works just fine with larger cards, all the way up to 32GB checked so far. It just had a bug when it came to formatting such a large card. My point was that I have had zero issues with CF cards formatted on the computer to FAT, and the computer get's the format right. Formatting large cards in camera leads to it deciding to replace the partition table as well as recreate the filesystem, as the format tool can't handle the large partition. There was a very similar long standing windows bug, which had the exact same problem.

There is no need to format the card in the camera (there is a detailed post about how the standard used works somewhere on this forum, I don't have the link handy) and there are potential issues that can arise from formatting in camera if using older cameras.

Hi Gene,

Thanks for the link. I use older Canon cameras, along with an old Phase One, so it's all CF card here for now.

R.

Honestly, I think a lot of the rage stems from people not really evaluating value properly. If we assume people replace their cameras every 3 years, and pay $1500 each time, they are paying on average $500 a year for their camera: If Adobe software doubles the value of that camera, it's cheap $35 a month! I agree, it's probably expensive for people using $250 cameras for 5 years.

My point about the OS comments is the irony of "Oh, Win7 will be fine" while raging about Adobe subscriptions: Win7 will be decidedly unfine within 5 years, and is well on the way to unfine already if you need to replace your computer. Win10 suffers from major problems with it's workflow that also makes it unsuitable for relying on as a base OS for a key workload.

My main reason for running Linux is that I know Linux a lot better and Linux is my day job. That said, I am not prepared to commit to Win10 for photography software because MS reserve the right to break my applications without giving me a choice in the matter. I would run Win7, but due to an EOL in 3 years time, and a refusal to support newer hardware enforced by checking CPU-IDs, I am not prepared to commit to that over the long term. Using Linux and working around the limitations of the available software strikes me as a better option.

And you will be restricted to what you have now. That's not really a great 5 year plan, not to mention longer time periods.

I have noticed significant differences between formatting 32GB cards in my (admittedly older) cameras and doing so on my computers: The 5D and the 350D both rewrite the partition table when formatting a card and create a 2GB partition. Undoing this piece of joy in the computer is non-trivial for the less technically capable. Both cameras have no problem with 32GB cards formatted on my computer.

This is a major gotcha, and as most cameras today just look for a FAT filesystem on the card I would never format a card in the camera: It's easier to see what the computer is doing and make sure the computer doesn't do something stupid.

As a Linux user, I find this thread amusing... Adobe move PS to a subscription model, and start raising the prices: Everyone posts about how they will migrate to a non-Adobe solution: Yet most of the solutions being proposed are all Windows/Mac only, and MS are blatantly trying to move Windows to a subscription model, while Apple are questionably more interested in their mobile ecosystem then they are their desktop. What will you do when MS decide to charge per month for Windows?

Darktable predominantly, because for the moment, the single overriding requirement of any software workflow for me is "Must run on Linux" as I am not willing to commit my photo workflow to windows given Microsofts current stance regarding updates and telemetry. Darktable has the nicest combination of DAM and image processing in a single package for my needs on Linux.

Unless you are shooting OOC, and presumably jpeg, there really is little benefit in changing the aspect ratio "in camera". It doesn't magically cause the sensor to change shape, it just causes the camera to throw away pixels.

I have the classic 5D, and I have never noticed anything in the menus for changing the aspect ratio.

Well... If it is the 35mm on "FF" field of view you are seeking, you probably wouldn't actually want the S-K 35mm on a full-frame 645 sensor, as it's equivalent to 22mm on the smaller sensor. I think the 55mm would be the lens you would want.

I made the jump last year to a used (and about 10 years old!) Phase One P30, instead of buying a 5DmkIV. Yes, the Canon would be a better camera in almost every regard, but it provided a point of entry at a price I could tolerate, and I love the way the Mamiya body feels to use, which as a hobby funded by a non-photography career is the only justification needed! I've built myself a little trinity of lenses: the Mamiya 35mm, 80mm, and 210mm. Not used the 35mm yet, the other two perform awesomely if the focus is right though: veins in the eyes from 5m right!

I know this is slightly mis-interpreting the question but...

The Schneider-Kreuznach 35mm LS f/3.5 "Blue Ring" lens for Phase One and Mamiya 645 cameras I have seen reviewed as "potentially legendary glass". Might be a bit expensive with the body and back needed to drive one though.

https://www.phaseone.com/en/Products/Camera-Systems/Lenses/Schneider-Kreuznach-35mm-LS.aspx