The iPhone camera can take good pictures, especially when taking pictures outside during the day, but it lacks any ability to zoom in. Sure, there is a digital zoom function, but all that does is crop part of the picture and reduce the overall quality. If you want to get a closer view with the iPhone camera, you need to move closer — which unfortunately is not always an option. But now you have a choice. The iPhone Telephoto Lens from Photojojo provides you with an 8x optical zoom lens for the iPhone. This device is small and easy to carry in a pocket, and only costs $35.00. Photojojo sent me a free review unit to test.
The product comes with a case that fits around your iPhone 4. (There is also a model for the iPhone 3G / 3GS.) The case is slim and you can certainly keep it on your iPhone all the time. When you want to attach the lens, just remove the protective caps from both sides of the lens and screw it into the case. Now, whatever pictures you take are zoomed in eight times.
Whenever you use any zoom lens on any camera, you need to be especially careful about shaking the lens, so most people use a tripod when using a telephoto lens. Fortunately, this product comes with a small clip that clamps to the case and which then screws into a small included tripod. The tripod props up your iPhone about five inches, and holds it very steady, whether or not you are also using the telephoto lens. Also included is a pouch to hold all of the parts, including the tripod. You can use the tripod in either the portrait or landscape mode.
How does it work? Fairly well. You need to manually focus the zoom lens by turning a band, then simply take your picture like normal. Here is a picture of the Mississippi River Bridge that I took from my office window, followed by a picture using the telephoto lens. Taking a picture through a window 46 floors in the sky is never perfect so even with a SLR camera this is not going to be a great picture, but this gives you a sense of how much it zooms in:
Here is another set that I took using the Pro HDR app to capture a fuller range of contrast. Looking at a large scene versus limiting the view to a single plant makes for an entirely different picture.
You can click on that picture to see the full size version. Just to compare, here is what you get if you take my original picture and crop it down to see the flower only. You lose a ton of quality, which is especially evident when you click on the above and below pictures to compare them:
When you use the telephoto lens, you can sometimes see the edge of the lens in the corner of pictures. If that bothers you, it is easy to crop it out. Also, you will sometimes see a vignette effect in the photo, with the center being brighter and the edges darker. The FAQ explains that "You'll get a little bit of vignetting every so often since you're really stretching the focal length of your fixed iPhone lens. Good news is the vignetting can be cropped out in any photo-editing app."
One of the reasons that I love taking pictures with my iPhone is that my iPhone is always in my pocket. This telephoto lens is something extra that you need to think about carrying, and if you are going to carry something extra, while not carry a "real" pocket camera with a better telephoto lens, one that you can adjust to multiple magnification levels? That is a fair question, but keep in mind that any "real" pocket camera is going to (1) cost more than $35 and (2) take up far more space in your pocket than the iPhone Telephoto Lens (especially if you don't carry around the tripod). Also, it is often preferable to take a picture on an iPhone so that you can easily edit the photo and then quickly e-mail or upload the picture to share it with others. If you take a picture on your camera and want to send it right away, you are out of luck unless you are also carrying your computer or your iPad and the necessary cord or the Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit.
The iPhone Telephoto Lens is a handy and fun accessory for your iPhone. I love that in addition to the telephoto lens, you also get a small tripod that can be used with or without the telephoto lens. If you enjoy taking pictures with your iPhone, you'll enjoy having this lens, and if you know someone else who loves using their iPhone as a camera, this makes for a fun gift.
Click here to get the iPhone Telephoto Lens from the Photojojo website ($35.00).
