I have used vernier calipers but the time savings of not having to scrutinize the vernier scale every time you take a measurement is quite worthwhile. Just buy a good set.
Yep.
> and use
Nope, not once you get old and tiny things are increasingly difficult to read with or without assistance.
I just bought a digital caliper with a big LCD display. It will work with Imperial or Metric units, which I really like.
My analog calipers are Imperial. I love them, but run into Metric units a lot. Got those in '88 and they are still calibrating in spec and working great. No battery. Did need light oil and cleaning a decade ago.
I have one Vernier caliper and... it is getting hard to read in some conditions. Bummer. I still prefer these in longer forms, say greater than 12"
https://www.otelo.fr/waroot/images/products/600/40130350_A.g...
Usually you can pay the vendor to calibrate the tool for a couple bucks more.
of course digital ones are much, much easier to read, but you only really feel that convenience when having to measure hundreds of items quickly to sort them into a tray or something...
And in the end, usually a Nonius type caliper is good enough anyways, and skilled users can read those to up to 0.02mm... and thats already pretty good and most of the time: good enough
and in case you do need to know the length of something down to a micron, there are other tools for that with less sources for measuring errors
so yeah: mechanical calipers rock and: you dont have to always get the brand things to get what you need