So while the very cheap webcam is capable of giving reasonable results with a bright subject, such as the Moon, you need more sensitivity for planetary imaging. The Video IM Pro might have been capable of giving acceptable results, I found it  very hard to control under low-light conditions. The image would vary in exposure and colour balance unpredictably, even when auto controls were turned off. The ToUcam, however, has separate controls for gain, brightness and frame rate and can be controlled very easily.

The PCL and Creative webcams have smaller chips than the ToUcam, which means that it is harder to get a small planet on to them. However, the smaller chips do mean that the image scale is larger than with the ToUcam.

It would be very useful to know of another webcam which is widely available, has a removable 12 mm lens, and gives good quality results, but without buying every one on the market this is tricky.  Several webcams have been reported on over the years, but many of them are no longer available or at least not in the UK.  The Logitech Fusion (£45) is one camera that has been shown to give good results, but it requires some modification before it can be used.