Episode 97: Everybody Chuzhao Tonight

An epidemic has swept Camerosity HQ along with a large swath of the camera collector groups. It seems a cheap Chinese toy camera has made its way into the homes of all of us and resulted in us sharing images from it online. Have we gone mad? Do you dream of tiny TLRs at night?

In Episode 97 we tackle the controversial Chuzhao mini-TLR digital camera. This $35 camera available worldwide through Amazon and Alibaba is selling like crazy now and each of the hosts ask our listeners what their thoughts are on it.

In addition to Chuzhao talk, we spend a good portion of the show on a completely unrelated topic, which is what to do with your cameras when you die. Mike and Paul both share their stories of picking up large estates of vintage cameras and what we ended up doing with them. If you think the prospect of being asked to tackle a 4500 piece collection sounds awesome, you should definitely listen to this episode as we have some thoughts on what its like.

Joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen, Theo, and Mike are returning callers A.J. Gentile, Ed Gabe, Greg McCreash, Ira Cohen, Larry Effler, Pat Casey, Phil Clark, Will Pinkham, and first time callers Doug Doyle, Rob Latimer, and William Ponder.

In addition to Chuzhao and Camera Estate talk, Ira shares some selections from his tiny TLR collection including a couple rare Hit film models, Paul shares his thoughts on what you should do in preparation for what happens to your collection after you die, Mike briefly talks about an uncommon 1950s 35mm SLR called the Tokiwa Seiki Pentaflex, and Rob shares his thoughts on the Zeiss-Ikon Super Nettar.

Meet Paul and Mike: If you are in the vicinity of Cincinnati, Ohio on Saturday, September 6th, come to the Ohio Camera Swap at the Hilton Garden Inn Cincinnati/West Chester and say hi to us. Both Paul and I will have a lot of Miranda cameras to sell! Who knows, maybe even some other Camerosity Podcast regulars will show up as well. While you’re there, maybe you can buy something from us!

As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show. We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining!

The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance.

For our next episode we are devoting a whole show to the Ihagee Exakta and Exa cameras. As one of the earliest 35mm SLRs and also one of the most successful, millions of Exakta cameras were made over several decades of the 20th century, so there are a great deal of them to talk about. As usual, we’ll cover some history about the brand, go over their use, and cover some of the more interesting or collectible models. If we have time, we will even cover the “other” Exaktas like the Exakta Real and the Pentacon produced RTL1000. Will we stay on track or end up finally discussing large format? You’ll only know if you turn into Episode 98 which will be recorded on Monday, September 8th at 7pm Central Daylight Time and 8pm Eastern Daylight Time.

In This Episode

Everyone Lost their Minds and Bought a Chuzhao / Many Chuzhao Resellers are Scams / Beware Where You Buy!
The Chuzhao is Only Worth it if You get it for the Equivalent of USD$40 or Less / Hacking the Chuzhao
Blown Out Highlights / The Chuzhao Is Great for Children or for Having Fun / Battery Life
Small Cameras Like the Chuzhao Break Down Barriers when Photographing People
Ira Cohen Has Many Other Really Small TLRs / Babyflex, Museflex, and Gemflex / Japanese Hit Film Cameras
Constructor and Blackbird Camera / Other Toy Cameras / Lego 3-in-1 Camera
5 Years Ago, Paul Picked Up a 4500 Piece Collection
Why Do Some Collectors Have Multiples of the Same Camera
Mike Goes to Texas to Get a Large Miranda Collection
The Many Variations of the Vest Pocket Kodak Camera / World War I Soldier’s Camera
Ira Has Negative Niches in His Collection
Inheriting a Large Collection is Fun But Overwhelming
Advice On What Should Happen With Your Collection After You Die / Tell Someone / Keep Records / Don’t Lie
How Do You Sell High Value Cameras from a Collection?
Mike Recommends Shipping Large Collections with U-Haul U-Boxes
Packing Cameras / Estimating the Value of a Collection
More Tips for Preparing Your Collection For After Your Demise
Tokiwa Seiki Pentaflex / Zeiss-Ikon Super-Nettel / Donating Cameras
Yashicaflex TLRs / Do You Get More Satisfaction Getting an Image from a More Difficult Camera?
Coated vs Uncoated Lenses / The Non-Rangefinder Version of the Kodak 35 / Canon VI-T

Links

The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, Stephen, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm.

If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server.

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