Chuzhao Legacy made
iPhone made
I HAVE LONG BEEN A DEVOTE´ OF so-called “crappy” cameras. Back in the day there were relatively frequent Crappy Camera Competitions that were for photos made with (very) less than perfect cameras such as Diana, Lomo, Holga, Halina, and, for some, Polaroid cameras. Those cameras are analogue devices but some consider very early digital cameras to also be suitable crappy cameras.
In any event, over the past year or so, my social media feeds––Facebook and Instagram––have been pestering me with frequent ads for a couple digital cameras that I was fairly certain were crappy cameras. I mean, how much quality and features can ya get for under a hundred bucks USD? Both of those products––from the same manufacturer––were designed as scaled-down replicas of traditional analogue cameras; one was a mini TLR, the other was a mini Hasselblad / Bronica style SLR.
In either case, they are marketed as the antithesis of “Modern Photography”––specifically cell phone photography––that has “lost the charm”, the “feeling behind the moment”. These cameras take one “back to the way photography once was” … “look into the waste-level viewfinder, and everything slows down. You wait. You create with intention.” … “crafted for that film look without the film.”
All of that marketing hooey aside, about a week ago I was lazing around feeling kinda bored and up popped an ad for the SLR variant and I thought maybe it was just the ticket to shake off my lethargy. I could spend $100USD––I have since learned that it can be had at Walmart for $44.82USD––on a good bottle of bourbon but that would be gone soon enough. The kick from a new camera should last longer than that. So …..
…. I am now the owner of a Chuzhoa Legacy SLR camera.
I have yet to push it through the picture taking wringer but I can say that I am somewhat disappointed by the fact that it is not really a crappy camera. The first picture I made––see snapshot format above––was quite adequate and, most likely, would be disqualified from a Crappy Camera Competition. That written, it did require some easy peasy footwork with PS to get a pretty good looking image. However, it did look quite good straight outa the camera.
Nevertheless, I am reasonably certain that there will be picture making situation that it can not handle very well. But, my intent in acquiring the thing was to use it a true snapshot camera and to ignore whatever quirks might come along with the dance.
BTW, re: “film look without the film”, in their dreams.