Other upside of a lead holder: no more little broken 0.5 mm pieces ending up all over the room.

https://www.lamy.com/en-us/writing-tools/mechanical-pencils?sortKey=COLLECTION_DEFAULT&limit=12&reverse=false

Staedtler makes a pretty good one for 10 bucks. my favorite is an aluminum one by Caran D’ache.

If you just have to have .5mm get a uni kuru toga. They have one that rotates the lead every time you press down so you always start with a sharp edge.

For a long time the GraphGear 1000 was my favourite because the tip retracts and it has a sturdy metal body. But it’s quite long and heavy, and I had to use the clip, which has a somewhat flimsy hinge joint. If the clip gets ripped off (happens to me) it renders the pencil useless because the clip holds the tip out for writing. I also used Orenz pencils for a while because I like the lead-protecting sleeve, but the tip doesn’t seem to be designed to be repeatedly pushed back into the body, because they always start jamming on me pretty quickly.

A few months ago I discovered the Pentel Kerry and it’s my new favourite. It has a removeable cap to protect the lead when closed, and to use it you remove the cap (friction/snap fit) and put it on the other end of the pencil like you would with a regular pen. The tip of the cap has a spring-loaded button which connects with the lead advance button on the main pencil body, so you can click on the rear end to advance the lead as normal. Unfortunately I don’t think there’s a metal body version, but the plastic feels quite sturdy to me.

Probably a little heavy for daily writing if you have any RSI issues though

I have the Kuru Toga for about 3 years during my Civil Engineering undergrad.

It’s fantastic although the tip is a little less stable than normal fixed points.

I have been spoiled by the rotating tip. I have the UNI M51017 1P.43 version. (I also got the Ghibli version)

I also have a rotring 600 but that’s out of your budget. And honestly it’s too expensive for me to justify bringing with me. It stays at home.