Considering an upgrade from my old D50?

I use an old Nikon D50. I always leave it in manual and my shots turn out pretty well. If I get anything printed out it looks great. My only issue has been the amount i'm able to crop, and the fact that anything bright and white gets washed out if i'm metering an area that's dark. I've worked around this simply by using my old film cameras. Obviously a newer camera with more pixels will help with the crop factor, but what about those bright washed out areas? I love my old D50, but lately i'm getting asked to take pictures for friends and family's special events. Wondering if an upgrade will be worth it. Keep in mind that I only use my camera in Manual so i'm not worried about the latest auto setting.

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