Pen F vs EM 5III

Would you purchase an old camera over a new one? I wished that olympus had released a Pen F II rather than the EM5 III as I prefer a rangefinder style rather than a slr style. In fact, I would love a Pen F II without an EV at all like the Canon 6M II or Fuji xa7 as I never use them. Anyway, my dilemma is between the EM5 III with more advanced features for £1000 or a Pen F that is almost 5 years old but for half the price. 4k video, slow motion, phase detection, weather sealing, more advanced ibis are all improvements on the pen f and nice to have. The Pen F feels restricted in comparison but is still tempting if only for photography of static subjects. Old tech vs new tech?

I would expect image quality to not be significantly different, so it comes down to features, price, and which camera you prefer to use. For me, I would not buy another M43 that does not have decent continuous focus capability, so the Pen F would not work. That said, I think the new EM-5 III is about $200 too expensive (right now).

The only thing that would matter to me is the lack of phase detect AF, and this would depend on whether you actually need it. The contrast AF on the Pen is meant to be pretty good. The Pen still has excellent IBIS. If you prefer the styling of the Pen F, I would be tempted to save the money. It is a more beautiful camera if that means anything. It does depend a bit on where you are coming from (DSLR or rangefinder/Leica M worlds).

Would you purchase an old camera over a new one?

Such happened. I even believe it will happen again but I'd hope to be somewhat conscious about what I am doing, i.e. try to be sure even that older model will cut my(!) cake.

When you want outdated, try to buy used. I doubt there is any reason to get a new one.- How long will it take you to take 150K shots with it? - How unlikely are Olympus to release a Mk III or at least Mk II that you might like (or simply want) during that time? - Traditionally carry everywhere cameras don't see that much use, since heavy shooting still gets done with others.

Buy new when that is the only available way to get hold of such a thing.

Not sure about others, but I love my Pen F for trips, street photography, and such, hand in glove feeling, and use it as much as my EM1 II. I think you ought to handle each to see what feels most comfortable. Image quality, as someone has already noted, would be about the same.

Buy the camera that you like best for its features or ergonomics. I have the Pen F. The EM5iii will function more like your D-SLR. The Pen F has an EVF on left side to replicate rangefinder style shooting, but has AF, not rangefinder focus. Many people prefer to use this type of camera for street.