Chuzhao Mini Digital TLR

[nerwin]

I came across this mini digital TLR made by Chuzhao. It's a cheap chinese point and shoot camera as you'd expect the image quality is nothing to write home about. It says its 12mp but its more like maybe 3mp and the sensor is really small. It does however have auto focus and it focuses really close surprisingly and in good light the photos are really not that bad but when the light gets low or there is a lot of highlights in the sky it just doesn't have the dynamic range but in really good even light, I'm impressed honestly.

It's just a toy camera that's all it is and it makes it a new challenge. I love the fact that it forces you to use a square format. It has two filter modes...color and sepia, which it was b&w honestly but that's okay I just edit them in Lightroom.

There are some weird things like not being able to set the time and date and there is absolutely not exif data so you have no idea what the focal length is or the f-stop but you can get some bokeh out this thing.

For $40, I can't complain and it's a fun shooting experience. A challenge and I'm having fun with it.

 

[otherprof]

I came across this mini digital TLR made by Chuzhao. It's a cheap chinese point and shoot camera as you'd expect the image quality is nothing to write home about. It says its 12mp but its more like maybe 3mp and the sensor is really small. It does however have auto focus and it focuses really close surprisingly and in good light the photos are really not that bad but when the light gets low or there is a lot of highlights in the sky it just doesn't have the dynamic range but in really good even light, I'm impressed honestly.

It's just a toy camera that's all it is and it makes it a new challenge. I love the fact that it forces you to use a square format. It has two filter modes...color and sepia, which it was b&w honestly but that's okay I just edit them in Lightroom.

There are some weird things like not being able to set the time and date and there is absolutely not exif data so you have no idea what the focal length is or the f-stop but you can get some bokeh out this thing.

For $40, I can't complain and it's a fun shooting experience. A challenge and I'm having fun with it.

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[otherprof]

Interesting! And some ice shots!

 

[nerwin]

Interesting! And some ice shots!

Thank you! It's a fun little camera. Everyone thinks it's so cool. It's a conversation starter for sure haha.

 

[smoke665]

Hey $40 is cheaper than night out and the fun from that thing will last a lot longer!

 

[cgw]

Hey $40 is cheaper than night out and the fun from that thing will last a lot longer!

Digital toy cameras? Why not! Compare it to the price of the cheapest Holga!

 

[smoke665]

@nerwin I just stumbled across this Experience the TLR Revival: New and Improved, Digital, Pocketable, and Under $50 are you still using yours. According to the article there's an insta-print version.

 

[nerwin]

@nerwin I just stumbled across this Experience the TLR Revival: New and Improved, Digital, Pocketable, and Under $50 are you still using yours. According to the article there's an insta-print version.

I ended up returning it because I just couldn't deal with the image quality haha. It's soooo bad. Sometimes they might look OK but most of the time it's awful and the there's no date function so if you import them to like LR, they are shown as a year or so ago. It's confusing. While it was cool looking, didn't think it was worth $50. But I should have kept it because Amazon never refunded me and I lost $50 and have nothing haha.

 

[greybeard]

I've paid a lot more and gotten less in the past. I think it is very cool and I may order one just for the heck of it.

 

[nerwin]

I gave more money to Bezos. Dang it. How does it trick us into doing that. I'll probably never get a refund for that Pentax KF I returned either. I'll just keep hounding them until they do I guess.

 

[smoke665]

I ended up returning it because I just couldn't deal with the image quality haha. It's soooo bad. Sometimes they might look OK but most of the time it's awful and the there's no date function so if you import them to like LR, they are shown as a year or so ago. It's confusing. While it was cool looking, didn't think it was worth $50. But I should have kept it because Amazon never refunded me and I lost $50 and have nothing haha.

You probably should have kept it. You'd spend that much on a good meal at a restaurant and the enjoyment doesn't last nearly as long.

 

[nerwin]

You probably should have kept it. You'd spend that much on a good meal at a restaurant and the enjoyment doesn't last nearly as long.

I wouldn't spend that much on a meal unless someone else is buying hahaha. I'd just eat a PB&J, cheaper that way!

It makes me want to buy a real TLR though.