One of the great things about smartphones today is that you always have a camera on hand no matter where you are. Unfortunately, even with advances in technology, there is still plenty of room for improvement. This is why a few vendors have been filling the void with aftermarket smartphone camera lenses that attach to standard smartphones, providing a little professional pop to your amateur phone shots.
Lensta Smartphone Camera Lens
Lensta is the newest addition to the field, currently in the middle of an Indiegogo campaign. Lensta is a smartphone lens intended to be of “professional” quality (using “similar” materials and components) featuring lively colors, a wide angle, and high resolution. It’s also designed to work with virtually any smartphone.
The lens features a magnification ratio of 2x, uses multi-layer distortion free coating, and is constructed with a five element four groups optic glass. The lens only weighs 0.11lbs, is 20mm high, and has a diameter of 37mm.
So far the company has raised over $29,000 on their $10,000 crowdfunding goal. By backing the campaign you can pre-order an individual Lensta for $39, which is 30% off the retail price. The estimated ship date for the lens is December 2016.
olloclip Smartphone Camera Lens
olloclip is a company offering a variety of lenses for the iPhone, iPad, and Samsung Galaxy S. Their core products are their Active Lens and 4 In 1 Lens, but they also offer the ollo case (for iPhones) with built-in lens, and now the ollo Studio setup, to facilitate flash and tripod attachment.
The Active Lens features ultra-wide and telephoto lenses; the 4 in 1 includes fisheye, wide-angle, 10x Macro, and 15x Macro lenses. Both pieces feature quick change capabilities and are engineered to work on front and rear facing cameras.
You can currently purchase OlloClip products via their official company website. The lenses range in price from $69.99 to $119.99.
Moment Lens Smartphone Camera Lens
Moment Lens is another specialty vendor which also is currently offering a variety of lenses which work with the iPhone, iPad Air, Galaxy, Galaxy Note, and Nexus 5 devices. Their lenses sell for $99.99 each. The Tele Lens supports 2x zoom with no distortion or degradation to the image. The Wide Lens is designed to take in more image without bending or distortion. Finally, the Macro Lens supports 10x zoom and is optimized for up close shots.
Klyp+ Smartphone Camera Lens
If you’re really looking to get into advanced photography with your phone, there’s the Klyp+, an all-in-one solution for taking photos with the iPhone. The Klyp+ case supports multiple lenses including: fisheye, 3x telephoto, 1.5x telephoto, wide angle & macro, super wide angle, and a polarizer.
In addition to the lenses, there’s also an optional companion 225lm lumens LED flash which is engineered to fit on the iPhone 5/5s SE and the latest 6 and 6 Plus. Users simply pull out the adapter and adjust the orientation based on the Klyp+ cover. If you download the companion Klyp+ app, you can even clap your hands to trigger the photo capture.
Compared to the other solutions mentioned here, the Klyp+ is a bit more affordable as they offer a set of three lenses (fisheye, portrait, and 1.5x wide angle) for $39.99.
Photojojo Smartphone Camera Lens
The most affordable option, Photojojo offers individual lenses for $20 or five lenses for $99. The lenses offered by the company are fisheye, super fisheye, telephoto, wide angle/macro, and polarizer. Each lens is crafted of solid aluminum and outfitted with a thick, high-clarity glass.
Unlike other solutions which require specialty cases or equipment, Photojojo engineered their equipment to work with virtually all smartphones and smartphone cases. Each lens set comes with an adhesive removable metal ring that fits any phone and/or a metal Magplate to stick to the back of the phone; the lenses attach magnetically and can be snapped on and off in an instant.
Charles Costa is a marketing specialist helping technology companies grow, one word at a time. You can learn more at CharlesCosta.net
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The lens is too heavy and makes holding the phone steady a problem. I got nothing but blurry photos. The lens must also be perfectly mounted over the phone camera to avoid a black circle border on your photos. Not as cool as I was hoping.
The idea is good but it needs some improvement as far as attachment to your Cel. I bought it to take on a trip but left it home because I found it more of a nuisance than a help.
Appreciate it!
I have a few of the PhotoJoJo lenses and I think they work great. Other than my phone not fitting in my pocket with them on, I really like them.
I love the wide angle look. Any little lens that I can snap on to achieve that would be right up my alley. It is pretty impressive to me how far smartphone cameras have come over the years.
Smartphone cameras are really high in features and technology so if you can stick a lens on the lens to “make” even better photos based on your preferences, that is great!
Smartphones are really pulling market away from DSLRs and as long as people are producing videos right from their smartphone, it is going to be a rough battle for the DSLR companies.