I guess this is what I'm trying to figure out. I googled around and saw some comment that there was a way to convert to .dng when importing, but that you needed version 6.14. I have version 5, so have been nosing around. So far haven't found one around any more. And I wonder why it would work with 6.14 but not with 5.
I'd love to hear if anyone here has done this.
I've run into this before. The important version isn't your LR version so much, as it is your ACR version - but with LR5, you're up a creek for the most part, you can't get that far out of sync. With that age of software, your only options to keep Lightroom are to either 1) update it, which means going subscription, or 2) put another workflow step in front of it, at least to get it all native. I ended up with #1, and I'm pretty meh on the updates, overall.
However, if you upgrade to a DSLR, LR5 does know what to do with it, though you'll need to heavily adjust the colors and create an import profile for your camera. The thing is, the raw files themselves don't change much between generations, but the color information captured by the sensor does change substantially. When it comes to the new RAW format used by new mirrorless cameras, LR5 doesn't have any hope with it.
Also, have you looked into Canon's Digital Photo Professional software, the free download? Even if you just use it to bulk process into TIF.
Oh, and of course, if you get a higher end body for your next camera, you can solve the problem by shooting 16-bit TIFF instead of CR2.
