The Godox C100 is a curious device quite unlike anything else I’ve seen. It works as a camera for both stills and video, and as a light meter. This comes in an unique vertical form factor that will easily slip into a pocket.

　　Godox C100 at a glance: $45 / £47 1920 x 1080 px sensor Photo, video and lightmeter modes ‘Transparent viewfinder’ 104 x 72 x 19mm, 65g godox.com The C100s defining feature is what Godox calls a ‘transparent viewfinder’ – essentially a 6 x 5 cm window with an LCD information overlay. It’s an intriguing little gadget, and sufficiently cheap that you might be tempted to take a punt on it. After all, Godox has been on a roll recently, with some great products such as its iFlash mini flashguns. But is the C100 actually any good?

　　Features When used for photos, the C100 fits very much in the ‘toy camera’ class. It shoots 2MP images with a 16:9 aspect ratio, but you can also select 3:2, 4:3 and 1:1 options, which crop in progressively from the sides. Unsurprisingly, there are no manual controls, but disappointingly, there are no image-processing filters either, which are found on most cheap toy cameras.    

　　Video is recorded in Full HD at 30 frames per second. Again you can select narrower aspect ratios down to 1:1, which for video is downright eccentric. You get mono audio via a built-in mic.

　　In light meter mode, first you select your film speed, from ISO 100 to ISO 800. Then you can meter in either aperture-priority mode, with settings from f/1 to f/64, or shutter priority using 1sec – 1/8000sec. The numbers are small and can be difficult to read, but it gives perfectly sensible results that are in line with my other meters.

　　Godox C100 key features: Viewfinder: This has LCD overlays to indicate the operational mode, focus area, aspect ratio, and battery status Storage: The camera stores video and still images to a Micro-SD card that slots into its base USB-C: A port on the bottom of the device can be used to charge the battery and transfer files to a computer or smartphone Power: A small lithium-ion battery is built-in, which Godox says should last for 1.5 hours Operation and controls Controls are suitably basic. A small switch on the side turns the device on and selects between modes. A large circular button on the front takes a photo, start/stops video recording, or takes a meter reading. Left and right arrow buttons select the aspect ratio and, in concert with another button in between them, change the light meter settings.

　　As for that ‘transparent viewfinder’, though, it’s pretty much entirely useless. It’s no more than a plastic window with an LCD status overlay that indicates the operational mode, framelines for each aspect ratio, and exposure settings for the light meter.

　　Unfortunately, this means it’s fundamentally flawed as a means of composition. This is because the area of the scene covered by the framelines depends entirely on how far away from your eye you hold the device.

　　As the lens gives a view thats roughly equivalent to 28mm in full-frame terms, it turns out youd need to hold the device very close to your eye for the framelines to indicate even vaguely close to the correct image area. And at this point, I found they were too close to focus on and see clearly.

　　I also found it difficult to gauge whether the camera was tilted, either up, down, left or right, and whether the horizon was straight. What this means is that to all intents and purposes, youre composing your images completely blind. And as there’s no screen, you can’t quickly check your photos while shooting, either.

　　Image quality For a £39 toy camera, image quality is just about OK, at least if you restrict yourself to shooting with the sun behind you on bright days. There’s a decent level of detail – much more than the dreadful Kodak Charmera, for example – and the colour rendition isn’t actually too bad. You can see some samples in the image gallery below (note the device doesnt record any EXIF image data at all).

　　Unfortunately, though, highlights blow out easily, noise is clearly visible in shadow regions even on a bright day, and flare is horrific if you point the lens into the light. Any modern smartphone will do a much better job.

　　Godox C100: Our Verdict Overall, I think the C100 is a rare misstep from Godox. I can’t really recommend it as a toy camera, as its transparent viewfinder simply doesn’t work for framing photos or video in any useful way. Its also missing out on fun features such as image filters.

　　The C100s one saving grace is that it could, perhaps, be useful as a cheap light meter for film camera users. But even then, it’s relatively bulky and won’t fit on a hot shoe ready for use. Its still attractively priced, but I think a dedicated lightmeter like the Keks KM-Q or TTArtisan Light Meter would be a more practical choice for most photographers.

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　　Best keychain toy camera? I test five cheap digital toy cameras, so you don’t have to! Godox iT32 with X5 trigger review – I think everyone should own this brilliant and affordable little flash Godox iT30Pro review – I’ve tested lots of small camera flashes, and this is the best so far Do you want to win some great prizes for your photography? Enter your photos in our International Amateur Photographer of the Year competition. Free entry for photographers aged 13-21.

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