Buying a camera is an expensive proposition. Do you buy based on features or on something else?

Photographing in the rain - sure way to destroy lesser cameras. E-1 with DZ 14-54 Lens

The image quality of the E-30 is slightly better in most circumstances than the E-3 and there are a few software improvements here and there. But the E-3 is of a different class of camera. The E-30 is "flavor of the month", but the E-3 is a long-term investment. I'm still using my ancient E-1 as my primary camera because even though it's severely outdated in so many ways, it still delivers the goods AND it instills a total confidence which other cameras don't necessarily give you.
 
The E-1, and E-3 are built to a totally different standard. The E-30 is decent, but you feel nervous letting it get bumped around or wet. The E-3 is a camera designed to take serious abuse.
 
You may feel that kind of construction is overkill for you, but the fact is, you do change your mindset once you get the better built stuff. Suddenly you realize that rain, snow, sleet, slime, bounces, bumps, knocks and thumps are no problem and you start using the camera in ways you never thought you would.
 
But to put these cameras into proper perspective--for the vast majority of people, a camera like the E-1 or E-3 will never get worn out nor will it actually be obsolete. New cameras are like new cars--the interior might have new thermostat controls, different trim and maybe a digital speedometer, but none of that makes the car drive any better. All the new car really is is a new autoloan with higher payments and more expensive insurance.
 
When you look strictly at features, the pro-level bodies are pretty worthless. I recall how camera ratings were back in the dark ages when an elcheepo plastic wonderbrick would regularly get far superior ratings than the top-dog cameras that didn't have 12 modes of Program Exposure or blinky self-timer lights, auto film loading and rewinding and other features that failed.
 
Case in point:  The E-500, E-510, E-520 are all "superior" to the E-1 in nearly every measurable way. But I've seen in the past couple of days a message on a dropped camera and another with the dead IS. It is extremely rare to ever hear of an E-1 biting the dust in any way. Just as the Vivitar 285HV was classified as the "Cockroach Flash" because you can't kill them, the E-1 might also take on that moniker.
 
When buying a new or replacement camera, it is a good idea to really ask yourself the tough question:  Are you buying a camera for the next two years or one that might possibly last you the rest of your life? The "new shiny" E-5xx or m43 camera might look like a brilliant choice right now, but back up three years and look at what was the "new shiny" camera on the market then and think how well it has "aged". I recall how the E-300, E-330, E-500, E-510, E-520, E-400, E-410, E-420, E-30, E-620, etc., were all the "new shiny". Once you start on the path of buying the "new shiny" based on features or promotion, it is a slippery slope because in 24 months you are more than ready for another "new shiny" that miraculously solves all the ills of your "old dull" camera.
 
Buying a pro-level camera is of a different thing, usually. The "new shiny" doesn't turn into the "old dull" quite so rapidly and even once you do buy another body you tend to keep the old one around because "you need a backup anyway" and the camera really isn't bad, it's "just the sensor, you know" that isn't keeping up.