Retro Lo-Fi Fun – Chuzhao Retro Digital

2024 saw a lot of jostling to push Lo-Fi digitals from the very good new Camp Snap to the frankly awful Retro Snap. You’d think i’d have had enough and should be saving my pennies for that Black Z fc I’m craving . But no, here’s the Chuzhao Retro and for ~50 quid you get a mini vintage style TLR- like cracker with some issues.

Selfie, Chuzhao Retro. 2025
This is just that single light bulb illuminated selfie and yes it is that small. 2025. Click on image for full size

It’s quite different to the scores of mini Chinese lo-fi digitals like the Y3000 which ape mini digital cameras or the more serious Lo-Fi cameras like Camp Snap et al which look on the main like a Dubblefilm clone.

The Chuzhao LCD on my version
The LCD doesn’t show much bar the battery and when the shutter is being depressed focus square but it’s bright and clear although not that high res. The blinds means it can be used in bright light

What you get is an absolutely tiny TLR look a like which also has a LCD you look down through the hood at

Very old school and quite novel.

The tl:dr Key points

On the Plus

  • Cute tiny retro style
  • Fun to use
  • AF and a good LCD screen idea
  • Rocks in B&W
  • Cranking to shoot movie (trust me)
  • Not bad if you only pay £50-60

On the minus

  • Colour control temperamental
  • Small sensor
  • Some issues with exposure
  • Interpolated images with artefacts
  • Video no sound and no IS

An new Lo-Fi digi contender which is fun to use with a TLR like action and looks. Just make sure you don’t pay too much.

Chuzhoa ? – Is that one of Lovecraft’s the Elder Gods ?

Cthulhu will take your pic now
Ready for your close up puny mortal

No eldrick menace here

As it names suggests it’s from China and pleasantly uses a Chinese name rather than some made up westernised one. Chuzhoa is used a first name and mean to illuminate or to shine. It was also the name a historical district in China.

You only tend to find it on Chinese sites or on Facebook (not usually a good sign) by resellers. Prices vary hugely from over $119USD (or 96 quid in the King’s money) to what I paid. As this post on malwaretips describes it’s a camera these resellers are buying in bulk from Chinese e-commerce sites. Alibab will sell you 10 or more for $24.80 per unit . Granted shipping is on top but if you only order 10 that works out at $8. Order a hundred and that drops to just over $4/unit

Now for what I spent (£56GBP/$68USD all in) I’m paying for the reseller marketing etc and doesn’t feel that unreasonable. It wasn’t around on chinese sites before the new year and I reckon I could have save a few quid buying there. However I’d be pi$$ed if I paid $118USD which is what a main reseller that uses the chuzhao name on their website charges with a claimed discount (they’re the focus of Malwaretips).

A 35mm film pod, Chuzhao Retro and Halina Viceroy
A sense of scale

This is a small camera which actually captures the look of a TLR. I’d matched it up in the above photo with my Halina Viceroy a pseudo 120 TLR. And I’d see the Chuzhao as a modern equivalent to the Halina

So What did you waste erm.. I mean get for your money this time ?

But plus points for the styling. It even has a pop up hood

The camera suffers from motivational slogans around the lenses but otherwise looks pretty much like a 1940’s TLR

The LCD is viewed as you would by looking straight down. It’s a bright little screen (1.54″). It’s made out of ABS plastic in the main and the finder blades feel flimsy but so do most TLRs that I’ve held. Unlike real TLR or my Halina the second lens on the Chuzhoa is completely faux. It’s the bottom lens that does everything.

It’s well put together and feels pretty good for the money. The crank on the side power the video mode.

Side view of Chuzhao Retro with hood extended
The crank is used for video mode. The central point is a button that can be used to focus the camera but oddly won’t take a still.

It comes in a quite nice silver box with a USB to USB-C cable for charging/PC connection and a reasonable quality neck strap marred by having “First Camera For Young People” printed in neon blue on it. Not the thing to be worn by dodgy looking middle aged bloke and I suspect if you put that on a Holga 135TIM or any Nons camera would be a ticket to an instant lynching.

USB C port and micro SD slot sit on base. Neither slot is covered and there’s no tripod point. Neither are deal breakers but both would have been nice to have. The camera came with a 16GB Chuzhao branded card. My reseller and other offer higher capacity cards.

Baseplate of Chuzhao Retro with it's memory card popped out

It came with a Chinese only manual but my reseller in fairness had an English copy on their FB page

And the Spec ?

Yeah thing get vague

The site I got this from says the Chuzhao Retro has a “1/4 inch, CMOS automatic with primary color filter”

Now to put that into context my 1999 Fujifilm DX10 had a 1/3″ sensor. In fairness you’ll find 1/4″ sensors on more budget smartphone.

It outputs square 3456×3456 pixel still files, Just under 12MP. I suspect that’s interpolated but more on that later. As is the HD 30fps video it outputs.

There’s no EXIF data at all and no way of adjusting the clock. The average file size from a sample of 40 daylight images is 2.9MB (my 12MP Nikon P500 averages 2.5MB over same sample)

Bridge Nocte I. Chuzhao Retro 2025 Dumfries
Night shots can be done . January 2025. Click on image for original.

The camera has autofocus… yes just let that sink in. None of the more serious lo-fi rivals like the camp snap do nor the budget Chinese micro models. Nor even the poop on the stick that is the Retro Snap (v1)

There is no exposure control and no details what drives the auto exposure mechanism (it’ll be TTL metering of some sort but likely relatively basic). There’s a non serviceable 3.7V lithium battery

You basically get still, video and playback and that’s it. It shoot both stills & video in colour or retro B&W.

Controls on the Chuzhao Retro

Pretty much this

Part of Chuzhao retro manual
Part of English translation manual From reseller site. Shown to illustrate the features

What they call the album button switches to playback. Turning the crank handle moves the camera straight into video mode until you stop turn the camera (you geta 6 second count down after that with quirky film count down visuals in the finder.

You can use a pre focus button by pressing the button the crank but it doesn’t take a photo.

The Child. Chuzhao Retro. 2025
Some noise but still quite good details here for an indoor shot. Indoor images tend to be more en pointe for colour accuracy. Click on image for full size

In use

This put a smile on your face using it like you would a TLR. The screen is bright and gives a reasonably accurate impression of your final image. My one only shows battery and focus square (when you start to press shutter) but it looks like there are variations where a little more info is given.

Promo image of the finder in the Chuzhao
Marketing still from a AliExpress reseller. Here you can see exposure details which i don’t get. This isn’t a made up still as I’ve seen videos with similar appearances. Image used for illustrative purposes.

That square will turn green when the AF focus and the shot is taken with faux shutter noise. There’s obvious lag between starting to depress the shutter but unlike other Lo-Fi cameras there is AF that takes up that time

It takes a while to boot up the Chuzhao Retro from cold.

The movie mode whilst not great in the results department makes that grin wider as you crank away for your footage. the fact you can shoot in either colour or B&W is a boon.

Results with the Chuzhao Retro

So it’s a mixed bag but not awful. This however better on all fronts thean the Y series cheap ultra mini digital and the Retro Snap V1

Exposure

This actually broadly does all right. We have no info on aperture shutter range or ISO. Indoor lower light shots are more grainy/noisy pointing to the gain/ISO being ramped up but they’re not too bad.

The camera has metered for the sky here just after sunrise. The Dynamic range is limited and you can see a sensor blooming smear effect in the bright bits of the clouds. Dumfries January 2025. click on image for full size

we also don’t know the TLL metering system. Simple light does well but suffers a lot in backlit situations. This isn’t helped by a not massive dynamic range. You also get a bit of smearing like effect in some bright areas

Low Light

Bridge Nocte II. Chuzhao Retro. Dumfries 2025
Yes this was taken on the Chuzhao !!!. Click on image for full size

I was pleasantly surprised here.

It’s not brilliant but this can do lower light situations granted images get nosier but are useable and even night lights work okay. There’s a bit a of sensor blooming (more on that later)

It does well with indoor lighting although as mentioned things do get a bit noisier compared to daylight shooting. This is good as there’s no flash

La Sardina Camera. Taken on Chuzhao Retro. 2025
Indoor lighting shot looks okay for web use with some noise evident at this size/ Click on image ofr full Size.

Processing and other artefacts

It’s clear this is interpolating. Take that shot of the the La Sardina above and close crop it

Close crop of the La Sardina Shot. Chuzhao Retro
500x500px crop of the the La Sardina Image

You can see lots of artefactual stuff. We know the camera isn’t compressing the images heavily we’ve blurring, shadowing and some aliasing going on.

Now this was a lower light image but lets take this daylight shot

Easterbrook Sign. Dumfries 2025. Chuzhao Retro.
Click on image for full size. The Crichton Jan 2025

Again we get the same effect although lessened

Close crop of the sign image above. Chuzhao Retro

and some real world comparisons ?

For comparison lets take a much more serious camera and another Lo Fi digital. Lets start with reasonably High end Bridge from 2011, my Nikon P500 (12MP 4:3). This image is on nearer the wide end of the zoom (about X3 of the up to X36)

Lola at the door . Nikon P500, 2024
14.9mm ISO 160 f/4.4 1/100 on Coolpix P500. 2024. Click to see full image on Flickr

The P500 does have a bigger but still small 1/2.5″ sensor. You can see the impact of better optics and a more high end senor and image system (no issues of wonky colour here and focus en pointe)

But it too is not perfect if you crop down to 500×500 pixels. And that’s important to remember as much of that is down to sensor size not optics. It is a less processed image and we don’t see the interpolation induced issues.

Crop of above Nikon P500 image
close crop of above image taken on a P500

Now for the Lo-Fi here’s a shot taken on the new 20MP Paper Shoot. The Paper Shoot heavily processes the image in camera for film like effect

Ye Olde Friar's Vault. Paper Shoot 20MP. 2024
Paper Shoot 20MP 3mm f/2.2 1/160 ISO 100. Dumfries 2024

And on the 500pixel crop I have to be honest it’s as problematic as the Chuzhao. The lack of AF matters and it is a longer way away as it’s a 20MP and a much wider lens. But there are rumours that the 18MP interpolated from 5MP and I suspect something similar is happening here

500x500px crop of Ye Olde Friar's Vault image . Paper Shoot 20MP. 2024

And importantly The Chuzahoa is no worse here (the paper shoot doesn’t bork the exposure as much however and has a better dynamic range. The Camp Snap is better than either of these

Nuclear Blooms and Flares

We also get a bloom smearing effect in some shots with bright backlighting, Shooting into the sun shows major blooming. The below shot was not atken before I was evaporated by a nuke .

Early Morning Bloom. Chuzhao
No I’m not being nuked. Click on image for full size

The camera notably flares a lot as the the above and below photo shows. Flare however is a marmite thing in the Lo-Fi community- you’ll ever love it or hate it.

Flare Du Jour. Chuzhao Retro. Dumfries, January 2025
Dumfries January 2025. Click on image for full size

Colour Balance or not

Indoor I didn’t have a lot of issues but daylight shots have quite a variable palette often changing a lot between similar shot . Take these 3 image of the same church taken within minutes

  • Crichton Church. Chuzhao Retro. 2025
  • Crichton Church. Chuzhao Retro. 2025
  • Crichton Church. Chuzhao Retro. 2025

The boosting can be quite OTT. The cherry Picker below was orange but not day glo. But other shots the colour was almost spot on.

Cherry Picker. Chuzhao Retro, 2025
The Crichton, Dumfries. January 2025. Click on image for full size

If you want consistency stick to the B&W mode and really this suits this little camera’s retro appeal

Johnstone House (aka the holiday Inn) Noir. Chuzhao Retro 2025
B&W mode. The Crichton, Dumfries. January 2025. Click on image for full size

Optics and Focus

The processing issues makes it hard to comment about Chromatic aberrations. Radial distortion is pleasantly low just a smidge of pin cushion if you look really hard.

Defib Noir. Chuzhao Retro, 2025
B&W Mode. The Crichton, Dumfries January 2025. Click image for full size

Images look okay on my 1920×1200 monitors but zoom in and the things aren’t so great, That said the AF works. It’s not pin sharp at any point but the focus as you’d expect is probably that bit sharper in the 1-5m zone. It softens towards the edges and corners but not badly so.

Given the cash point and concept for the money (if you pay around 50 quid) it really isn’t bad.

Corner sign. Chuzhao Retro, 2025
The Crichton, Dumfries January 2025. Click image for full size
Winter reminant. Chuzhao Retro. Dumfries 2025
Although your control of the AF is limited it did manage to focus on the burr head not the background here. Dumfries February 2025. Click on image for full size
Lola I. Chuzhao Retro. 2025
The upscaling cause the white on our Lola, head just to merge into a block with no tonal delineation. Shame as at this web sized image scale, it’s otherwise quite useable. February 2025. Click on image for full size

Video on the Chuzhao Retro

So you do get HD video file out put at around 30fps. The bad news is there’s no audio or image stabilisation. It probably on balance gives you better quality footage than the Y4000 although that’s more accurate from a colour point of view and easier to keep stable. It’s still the same interpolated and artefact city as the stills and the same colour issues apply

My finger got in the way here and the church red sand stone is not so day glow. The colour footage is really choppy

Crichton in Colour

I think the B&W looks way better on the Chuzhao Retro. There less processing going on again and it’s a little less choppy

B&W at the Crichton

I mean it’s not brilliant but there is some retro charm here

Final Thoughts on the Chuzhao Retro

If you were expecting some fully functional digital version of a TLR you’d be disappointed. but if you come at this from a lo-fi, there’s a lot to like. Just using the Chuzhao Retro thing brings a smile to my lips. Although the current fad in Lo-Fi digital has been to ditch the LCD, this rips up that rulebook by using the LCD as a pure viewfinder but in classic top down position.

There are next to user options a simple button to swap to B&W or play back

And then there’s the video. This might be Low quality and not helped by the lack of image stabilisation or a tripod point. But the hand cranking is just fun and feels very retro

Old time movie camera gif

There are downs.

It’s clearly interpolating which is no surprise given the teeny tiny sensor. It’s colour in daylight is flaky as is the exposure. And the dynamic range sucks in 2025. It can’t match the Camp snap. But on some levels it holds up to a 20MP Paper Shoot a >$100 camera.

The Chuzhao Retro ain’t worth a over $100 price tag despite what some resellers might make you think but spend about half that. And it if you’re a Lo-fi fan or just wanting some fun this could be for you

Just don’t pay too much.


Alternatives

This joins an interesting market. The Chuzhao Retro is way better than the micro Y series cameras I’ve tested although they are only around £10-20 (unless you for some unexplainable reason get sucked into buying them from unscrupulous reseller for way more).

Put it up against the current more serious Lo-Fi, Things get more interesting.

FlashBack ONE35, Paper Shoot and the Camp Snap
FlashBack ONE35, Paper Shoot and the Camp Snap

None of these have a LCD which is seen as selling point so you do get parallax and other finder issues in all 3. Versus the Flashback ONE35, it produces optically better images but that does miss the point of the Flashback. The Camp Snap is the best of these optically and priced the best at around the cost of the Chuzhao. It is better optically but to change filters you need to flash the firmware. The Paper Shoot is a more nuanced. In terms of artefact i think it is as bad as the Chuzhao. In it’s native colour mode it does deliver a more distinctive look and you have 4+ filters to pick between. It does better dynamically and exposurewise but it is like the other 2 fixed focus.

I group tested these last October (with the older 1.01 Camp snap and 18MP Paper Shoot). I’ve an update review of the newer Camp Snap 1.03b

Other reviews of the Chuzhao Retro

Carmine Taverna does a nice brief overview of this on YT

He’s about the only other Genuine review. All the the others are promo video or one of dozens is it fake or scam videos which all seem to be similar content and I wonder if AI generated from the malwaretips post I mentioned early

Carmine like me gives this the Thumbs up

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