Giddy about gadgets #2: Smart phone clip-on lenses

Some time ago, I got spammed on Facebook with advertisements for these "amazing" lenses that would turn your smart phone in to a professional camera. And since I didn't have the money to buy an actual camera, it triggered my curiosity. But I wasn't convinced enough to buy it.

Only a week later, a co-worker posted some amazing photos on his Instagram, leaving me wondering what camera he was using. He told me that he took them just with his iPhone and an Olloclip lens ("OMG, these advertisements keep following me!!"). Too bad this type of lens doesn't go on my Samsung Galaxy S7 and so I had to find my own lenses... But after seeing his results I really wanted to have them!

A few days later they arrived in the mail. The 3x HD Telephoto lens (because bigger is better!!?), the 120-degree wide-angle lens and the 3-in-1 (wide-angle, fisheye and macro).

Putting them on the phone

Placing the lenses on your phone is pretty straightforward. You screw the lens on the clip and put them over your camera. Check your screen if you placed them correctly. You can also check looking through the lens itself to see if the camera is exactly in the middle. The rest is just like an ordinary picture. No extra apps, no nothing.

In case you have a protective case around your phone; this could be an issue, depending on the thickness of your case. Most of the time I just leave the case on when I snap my pictures and I don't see too much of a difference in the resulting photos.

The 3x HD Telephoto lens (with lens hood) on my Samsung Galaxy S7

3x HD Telephoto lens

At first I didn't really see the use of this lens. It was supposed to bring far away objects closer, but the first pictures that I took just gave a blurry distorted result in the distance. Maybe it had to do with the amount of light that I used in those pictures, because when I tried again at home, it actually did work....sort of. The next day I tried it with slightly more light and you can now clearly see the difference when you zoom in.

Normal vs. 3x HD Telephoto lens, both fully zoomed out

The lens hood is detachable and helps remove the lens flare and enhanced contrast. I normally just keep it on. As you can see in the picture, the edges of the lens drop a shadow and distort the outer area of the photo. So I'd suggest to only use this lens if you need extra zoom. It ruins the outer edges of your photo.

120-Degree wide-angle lens

This is the lens that I have used the most. It just solves the most annoying part of smart phone photography: that things don't fit in the picture. This lens is a great solution and you see instant result after you clip it on. Even on your phone screen, the view already looks more spacious and professional.

Normal vs. Wide-angle

3-in-1 lenses (wide-angle, fisheye & macro)

At first I was confused. "They only give me 2 lenses, how is this 3-in-1?" But after RTFM I discovered that the macro lens is just a part of a combination. After removing the wide-angle lens part, the rest is macro. As you can see in the pictures below, it does a bit of macro, but it also needs a lot of patience to get it focussed enough. However, it is already much better than will ever be possible with only your smart phone.

Normal vs. Macro lens

I don't do much with the wide-angle lens of this set, because I already have an amazing wide-angle lens from the other order. And that one works perfectly fine. So I see this extra lens just as a back up. It's somewhere in my drawer...

The fisheye works well. It's easy to get the picture focussed. The biggest issue is more:"When will I ever want to make a fisheye photograph?". Maybe I just lack creativity and I should experiment more, which I promise I will do. But the clementines look pretty neat this way, right?

Normal vs. Fisheye

In general

The downside of a solution like this is that it is easy to misplace the lenses. And I mean this in both meanings of the word. Before doing this piece, I had to go through my stuff to find my lenses again. They are so tiny and because you keep them close to your phone, they go everywhere!

You also have to pay attention when positioning the lens on the camera. Since part of the clip covers the screen, you might not always be aware that there is a shadow in your top left corner (like you can see in the Dublin Spire shot earlier) until you go through your photos at home.

To conclude

I am not super fond of the 3-in-1 lenses. I don't do much macro while travelling and am still looking for the right shots with fisheye. They just turn out weird.

Since I would normally use my pocket camera as soon as I really need a big zoom, the 3X HD Telephoto lens is also not on my "must have" list. I see the value of it, but the distortion is annoying enough to not spend much energy.

I actually ended up only using 1 lens: the 120-degree wide-angle lens. And I am pretty much addicted to it!

All 5 lenses together cost $47,76 at Amazon (see links above). Only the wide-angle lens is $12,78. There are many brands that offer clip-on lenses and their prices range from almost nothing to a lot. Go experiment!!

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