I always have this micrometer in my shop apron. As much as I like the process of reading on a conventional micrometer, it's much more convenient to read the readings directly from numbers. This mic measures to the nearest tenth, but then you have to use the traditional vernier scale to get the last digit. .They can be calibrated in several ways: you can calibrate the thimble marks like a standard microphone, and you can open the digital part and correct the numbers shown. There are videos on YouTube of people fixing these mechanical digital mics and it's not that hard.