Used camera, worth buying?

Hi M43 friends,

i'd like to ask your opinion about my next purchase. I own a GH4, amazing camera for video but just good for stills (the gh5 for what i saw is really really good at both, big improvment in still).
Now i would like to get another camera just for still, i do not want to upgrade to GH5 (at least not now) because i want the dedicated still camera body to be more portable, so i'm really oriented to the OMD series from Olympus.

Here in italy i've found few OMD EM5 at a price around 300-350Euro (350-400$)...do you think it is worth the price or you think i should go for a new OMD-EM10 or similiar?
I mean, IQ for sure is slightly improved in 5 years but is the price difference worth?
OMD EM5II is amazingly beautiful (my favourite) but is still fitting a 16Mp sensor...if i have to pay more then 800$ i would like to have at least the new generation sensor, is my argument solid in your opinion?
Thank you for your suggenstions
Marty

Marty Stenford wrote:

Hi M43 friends,

i'd like to ask your opinion about my next purchase. I own a GH4, amazing camera for video but just good for stills (the gh5 for what i saw is really really good at both, big improvment in still).
Now i would like to get another camera just for still, i do not want to upgrade to GH5 (at least not now) because i want the dedicated still camera body to be more portable, so i'm really oriented to the OMD series from Olympus.

Here in italy i've found few OMD EM5 at a price around 300-350Euro (350-400$)...do you think it is worth the price or you think i should go for a new OMD-EM10 or similiar?
I mean, IQ for sure is slightly improved in 5 years but is the price difference worth?
OMD EM5II is amazingly beautiful (my favourite) but is still fitting a 16Mp sensor...if i have to pay more then 800$ i would like to have at least the new generation sensor, is my argument solid in your opinion?
Thank you for your suggenstions
Marty

For not much more you could get an em10 mkII, that's what I would do.  I have an em5 and it's a great little camera, but the evf sucks a bit towards the newer models.  The newer models should have slightly better tech, better AF and the em10 mkII will have slightly better IBIS afaik.

Price sounds kind of high for an EM5i.  I agree with Dutch, a used EM1i would be a better spend for that kind of money.  How about a used EM5ii? I think if you can wait, we may see EM5iii sooner than later as well. Just my $.02 USD

Hi

A while back there was a flurry of threads asking the same question. The consensus was not to get an EM5, but to go for an EM10 or newer. If an EM1 is within budget then that is a good choice also.

Personally I have had the EM5 (loved it at the time) but my Em10’s and EM1 are far superior actually. That’s my opinion. The EM10mkII is the pick of the bunch, esp with the grip.

ok, thanks everyone for the opinions. You almost conviced me to go for the EM10 but then i figured out that the screen is not free in the three direction, it is just tiltable. 
A totally free screen is just for em5 an em1....too bad.
Will wait for eventually the em5III and consequent price drop of EM5II

Marty Stenford wrote:

ok, thanks everyone for the opinions. You almost conviced me to go for the EM10 but then i figured out that the screen is not free in the three direction, it is just tiltable.
A totally free screen is just for em5 an em1....too bad.
Will wait for eventually the em5III and consequent price drop of EM5II

Folks often cite the FAS as being better for video, but you want this camera for stills only. Do you still (no pun intended!) prefer the FAS for this usage.

I wouldn’t want a screen sticking out and doubling the width of my camera.

Many disagree though.

RobbieBear wrote:

Marty Stenford wrote:

ok, thanks everyone for the opinions. You almost conviced me to go for the EM10 but then i figured out that the screen is not free in the three direction, it is just tiltable.
A totally free screen is just for em5 an em1....too bad.
Will wait for eventually the em5III and consequent price drop of EM5II

Folks often cite the FAS as being better for video, but you want this camera for stills only. Do you still (no pun intended!) prefer the FAS for this usage.

I wouldn’t want a screen sticking out and doubling the width of my camera.

Many disagree though.

Robbiebear...i got your point, mine is just different , hope you can deal with that

Marty Stenford wrote:

RobbieBear wrote:

Marty Stenford wrote:

ok, thanks everyone for the opinions. You almost conviced me to go for the EM10 but then i figured out that the screen is not free in the three direction, it is just tiltable.
A totally free screen is just for em5 an em1....too bad.
Will wait for eventually the em5III and consequent price drop of EM5II

Folks often cite the FAS as being better for video, but you want this camera for stills only. Do you still (no pun intended!) prefer the FAS for this usage.

I wouldn’t want a screen sticking out and doubling the width of my camera.

Many disagree though.

Robbiebear...i got your point, mine is just different , hope you can deal with that

Why wouldn’t I?

One thing to consider is whether you are open to a new menu system.  Olympus and Panasonic menus tend to be different from each other.  There are pluses and minuses to each.  Given I've been using Olympus since 2001, for me the Panasonic menus on my G85 and LX10 always take a bit to remember where things are.

Note, if you wear polarized sunglasses when shooting, the E-m5 and E-m1 models (both mark I/II of each) use a TFT LCD viewfinder which has polarization issues when you shoot in the normal landscape orientation.  Most of the recent Panasonic cameras that have a viewfinder use an OLED viewfinder, which does not have polarization issues.  I find with my E-m5 mark I and E-m1 mark I, that I can use the camera to frame a shot when wearing sunglasses, but I'm not able to do things like manually focus.

The E-m10 mark II/III and Pen-F cameras have OLED viewfinders.  In terms buying of used cameras, one of the things that OLED isn't as good at as TFT displays is over time the display degrades.  So be sure to check how well the screen looks.