all photos ~ (embiggenable)
BEEN MAKING A BUNCH OF CHUZHAO CAMERA pictures in a variety of situations over the past few days. “Why?” you might wonder. Answer": cuz I can––with a bit of idle curiosity, re: its capabilities / liabilities, thrown in.
VERDICT Assuming that the camera user has a modicum of post picture making software processing capabilities, the camera does reasonably handle a variety of casual user picture making situations. Without processing skills? Meh. That written, its primary flaw is situations with extreme dynamic range where shadow detail occupies a large part of the picture frame; in most cases the highlight area will be way over exposed––there is no in-camera fix cuz its all auto exposure all the time, no exposure control whatsoever.
ATTENTION: lest you think I am going all Mike / Kirk / et al mucking around in the miasma of the gearhead swamp, hang in there with me as I continue ….
…. re: “cuz I can” what I am suggesting here is that there is a pleasant vibe to be had from just fooling around, aka: having fun, with a quirky toy camera. A camera that has no logical rational for even existing. That written, I do wish that the camera was even more quirky; a good start would be a really crappy lens that exhibits all manner of flaws. Ya know, like an acute lack of sharpness, extreme vignetting, flare prone, and for good luck, maybe an off-kilter color cast. Now that would offer up a world of fun.
In any event, this camera just flat out ain’t nearly crappy enough and I have to admit that I am jonesin’ for a crappy camera. So, I am giving thought to pulling out one of my KODAK Wratten filters––made of dyed gelatin––attacking it with sandpaper, crumbling it up, and scotch taping it––although, I do have a clamp-on warren filter holder––to the camera lens.
STOP THE PRESS––just before hitting the SAVE AND PUBLISH button for this entry, I followed my own idea––placing a crumbled up sheet of acetate in my clamp-on warren filter holder and putting it on the camera––and made a couple test photos. The results are definitely moving in the crappy camera direction.