Chuzhao TLR Toy Camera Review - Best $17.32 I’ve Ever Spent
My Chuzhao Toy Camera, complete with Peak Design Strap Lugs
I feel like I’m a little late to the party here. There have been dozens of reviews and videos regarding the Chuzhao TLR camera over the last several months, but I wanted to put some time in with mine before giving my verdict. Too many reviews are just about the specs and/or are created after spending a very short time with the camera. My thoughts come from using it for nearly 6 months.
I won’t go through all of the specs for the Chuzhao, as you can easily look them up on their website. Note that the “regular” price is $159.00 USD, but its currently “on sale” for $89.99. You can do much better than that if you check Amazon first before spending your money - they currently are selling it at $39.99, with free shipping if you are a Prime Member. When I purchased mine, it was on sale for a little less than that, and using the AMZ points that my credit card had rewarded me with from the prior month, it cost me a whopping $17.32 all-in.
First impressions after it arrived at my house were positive. It’s clearly a toy camera, but with a build quality slightly better than Holga and Diana cameras. The controls take some getting used to at first, but after a few days of using it I had no issues. The little flip-up WLF does a good job of providing the TLR experience, but feels a little clunky to use, especially when wearing gloves. Out of all of the parts on the camera, the WLF hood is the one I am most worried about breaking. That has yet to happen in the last 6 months, so maybe I am just being a little overly cautious.
Looking down into the viewfinder is a joy, and does a great job of replicating that TLR shooting experience, albeit electronically. You have the choice of shooting images in color jpegs or black & white jpegs. There are no raw files, so you get what you get. Don’t shoot something in black & white it you want to make it color later. Also, the black & white images it produces are a little more sepia in tone, which I have come to like over time.
The color files have a lot of saturation built-in, and are very punchy. I find myself doing very few edits, with most of the images shown here being straight out of camera with a border added. Below are some of my favorite color images from the last several months. Click on the first image to view in a larger screen and scroll through.
The small 1/4” 12mp CMOS sensor does not have a lot of dynamic range, so when shooting you have to treat it almost like shooting certain film stocks. Know that you aren’t going to get detail in the highlights or shadows, or both, depending on where you are pointing the camera. The autofocus can struggle at times in low contrast scenes, but most of the time its decent. I learned that if the camera wasn’t autofocusing on what I wanted it to, I could put my hand in front of the lens and then remove it, causing it to try to grab focus again. Most of the time that would help.
Shooting it in the B&W mode is a lot of fun, mainly because I only have one other digital camera that lets me see and compose in B&W, and that’s the Fuji GFX 50S I acquired also last year. More on that camera in another post. Seeing in B&W really frees me up when composing, getting rid of color all together and letting me focus on leading lines, shapes, and composition. Below are some of my favorite B&W shots from the past few months. Click on the first image to view in a larger screen and scroll through.
The Chuzhao next to its “inspiration”, the Rolleiflex 2.8D
To be truthful, the quality of the images is not great, but I’m fine with that. They hold up on their own, and really only fall apart when pixel-peeping. They are just fine for social media or just recording moments. Would the Chuzhao TLR replace any of my digital DSLR cameras or film cameras? Nope. Could it take the place of my phone when out and about? YES, definitely. I am not one who likes to take images with my phone, so its normally in my pack or pocket and rarely comes out. With the Chuzhao slung around my neck, it makes me shoot more. And looking down into that little TLR screen is just sooooooo much fun.
I would probably not recommend you spend the huge amount of money that the manufacturer is asking for on their website, and only purchase it from Amazon when it goes on sale. It comes with the battery fully charged and a 16gb micro SD card, so you are ready to go out and shoot right out of the box.
I have an early model, and I have read that the current ones now have a tripod mount on the bottom that mine does not. While that’s great and a nice add, unless they made some kind of provision for a delayed shutter, it probably won’t be very useful. The camera will automatically adjust the ISO to get the shot, so even if it is on a tripod it won’t know that. Having a manual mode for this camera would be great, but then again, the target audience might not care. I’m truly just happy having it hanging from my neck and snapping off images. The one accessory I’d like to see is some sort of attachable lens hood that looks like a square Rollei hood. It looks like the little bay mounts are there, so it could be possible.
The Chuzhao website now has a snazzy red version of it available. While I prefer the subdued black/chrome look, the red could be a fun camera to carry around. I did get some looks and questions last year when carrying it around my neck. Not quite the same amount I would get with my Rolleiflex, but still a fair amount.
If you are looking for a fun little toy to mess around with and maybe take the place of your phone for casual photography, I would highly recommend this fun little camera, especially if the most you plan on doing is posting them to social media. If you want high quality images that will print large, and are a pixel-peeper, then this camera probably isn’t for you.
Have you purchased a Chuzhao recently? What are your thoughts on the camera? Please feel free to comment or ask any questions.
As always, thanks for reading!
Jeremy