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Message:: [QUOTE="SuperDave, post: 2481862, member: 1892"]These are factors you should consider. However, what it *does* have is a 5MP sensor as opposed to the 2MP sensor of the other camera. This is of significant importance when one considers how fast and loose the term "magnification" is used with these things - the apparent magnification of your monitor is factored into the boast, as is "digital zoom" which is a useless software trick which not only adds no detail to what the sensor sees, but actively detracts from quality. Consider that a 5MP sensor produces images of almost 2000 vertical pixels. "1x" magnification - essentially no magnification at all - would therefore create an image measuring 18" wide on my 2560x1440 monitor, which is the physical size of a 2000px coin image measured with my tape to the monitor....at full size, I cannot even see the whole coin at once. On the other hand, 5MP requires correspondingly more accurate optics than 2MP would. $75 does not buy "accurate" optics unless applied towards a used high-quality lens for use with your existing dSLR camera. All this doesn't mean you won't get acceptable, usable results from either rig. Just don't expect "professional" results, and don't let anyone's blather about "magnification" interfere with your decision.[/QUOTE]