Macro, Wide and Fish Eye lenses.
Hiya people, today I have something extra special for my creative photographers pals out there.
Have you often seen some of the fantastic photography gadgets but never know where to find them; then look no further than
Photojojo in the USA who offer a "One stop Shop" of the most unique gifts and gear for photographers all under one roof. You have to check them out its really an amazing site.
- Do you use your phone for your photography but want to get more from it?
- Is your phone limited to what it can do without trawling through the different apps until you find the one you like?
I have been amazed with how gorgeous the camera is on my Galaxy S4 Smartphone; the 13 million pixels make my images sharp, crisp and clear with the colours popping from the screen. But I've wanted more and thanks to the lovely girls from Photojojo they kindly sent me 2 of their smart phone lenses to play with and show you all from their
The Fish eye, Wide-angle/Macro.
I couldn't wait to see what I could do with these lenses.
Read on to see another photoloaded review of these amazing lenses.
If you haven't noticed I absolutely adore photography I have been a published photographer for over 30 years specializing with macro and wildlife photography. Its the air I breathe and I take photos everyday; I've been dying to experiment more with mobile photography since getting my gorgeous Galaxy S4; one of the best camera phones out there.
I've seen some awful gadgets you can stick to your phones from plastic magnifying lenses to plastic coloured vinyl pieces. After all, you've paid a small fortune for your smartphone and you don't then want to stick a cheap toy to it sheesh!!!
Are you fed up with lugging a bag full of camera lenses every-time you go anywhere just so you don't miss anything.
Then your in luck as this iphone and android lens series is like a set of pro-lenses for your phone.
The Photojojo iphone and Android lens series comes with a choice of 6 lenses;
Pro-quality Fish eye. Super Fish eye,Telephoto, Wide angle, Macro and polarising phone lenses.
PackagingI love the Photojojo packaging as its bright modern with good images of the lenses inside.
The back has simple explanations of attaching the lens to your phone.
Inside the box you get your lens and a good quality lens cap, a phone charm magnetic lens holder...genius and a packet of 5 adhesive removable metal rings to attach your lens magnetically.
Snap it on and your off in an instant!
DescriptionEach of these 3 lenses have been crafted out of solid aluminum and contain thick high quality optical glass, which has been tested by hand and inspected to ensure the upmost perfection.
They have been designed to fit the iphone 5/5s perfectly but will also fit iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Blackberry, Macbook, Nexus 10...any device that has a small lens on it that isn't protruding from the main device.
The Macro and Wide-angle lens with lens cap.
The Wide Angle and Macro lensThese two lenses come as one and screw neatly together.
The wide-angle sits neatly on top of the macro lens and you simply unscrew it to use the macro by itself or keep them together as above to use it as a wide-angle lens.
They screw together easily as the threading is really well defined. But they could be a bit fiddly for shakey hands, larger or less dextrous fingers.
They are beautifully designed and the aluminum is light in your hand giving an excellent quality feel. I also love that you get a lens cap with this lens.
Fisheye lens
Fisheye lens
I was excited to receive these lenses as I haven't ever used a fisheye before as a Canon or Sigma lens would cost a fortune. So I was really looking forward to seeing what I could do with this.
There are 2 Fisheye lenses available from Photojojo; the Classic which is my one and takes in 180 degree surround and the Super Fisheye which is the extreme and takes in 235 degree surround.
Fisheye gives you that instant fishbowl effect; a real hemispherical view like you are in a bubble; letting you get really creative with your images. See how gorgeous that glass is.
This is beautifully made and you can feel the quality in your hand; the base also has a magnetic ring firmly attached so you can pop it on and off your phone.
Its slightly bigger than the other lens and also comes with a lens cap and phone charm lens keeper.
All three lenses have a really excellent feel and the glass is thick inside and excellent quality too.
Measurements
Macro/Wide lens
2.1cm in diameter with lens cap on.
1.4cm depth.
Fisheye lens
2.7cm in diameter with lens cap on.
1.8cm in depth.
Metal ring attached around my phone lens.
Attaching the metal ringAttaching the ring over the camera lens of my galaxy S4 was really easy; I was worried it may not fit as my lens protrudes slightly from the main phone (see the above pik) and I wondered if it would miss some of the sticky; but it fits perfectly. You then hold it firmly for a minute and then leave for half an hour.
TIP: Apply it carefully and gently as you have wiggle room to get it exactly in the right place; before you press it down firmly for a minute.
I was surprised at just how firmly it sticks, you get a bag of 5 rings with each lens pack (so I have 10) and Im still on my "first" ring. But they are removable if you wish.
Simples....Now your ready to rock!
Using the lensesThe lenses fit firmly and the magnet is so strong it pulls the lens from your hand at half a centimeter away; very cool!
Here are some photos of the lenses on my original case of my Galaxy S4.
Wide/Macro lens.
Fisheye lens.
Macro lens I put on my favorite
Strawberry bling case from Mobile Madhouse to see if I could still use my lenses. I was really lucky as these lenses could have been made for this case as both lenses fitted snuggly within the cutout camera hole.
Macro lens by itself.
Just look at how snug this lens fits; the macro almost disappears and you hardly notice its there.
Being a lower/smaller lens this fits super tight with the magnet and as with all three lenses you can give the phone a hard shake and doesnt drop off. I even dropped my phone (unintentionally) on the grass from about 5 foot high and it was still on the phone with no damage to either phone or lens.
Wide and Macro combined
Wide and macro lens together equals the wide effect.
It doesn't look too big for the phone it really looks amazing quality here; what do you think?
Fisheye Lens
Fisheye.
This lens looks really stunning on the phone and is actually very professional for a phone lens too. The stippled effect around the edge like a coin; makes this lens easy to distinguish between the two lenses. The slimmer neck also fits really snuggly within the cases camera cutout, with 1 mm to spare.
The fish eye is slightly more bulkier but it's so light you don't notice it's there. Doesn't it look gorgeous with the glitter and bling Im so in love with the look!
My blue silver bling case fits all the lenses perfectly and looks stunning as it matches all the silver.
I just had to take piks of the lenses on my new "lens case" (review coming soon), they all fitted perfectly too
.
These 3 cases fitted the lenses.
My Wallet/folio cases were too small a cutout.
Most of my Galaxy S4 case collection fitted the lenses but I did have a few cases that the cutout was just too close to the main lens to fit them. So be aware of this when buying these lenses. But you can simply buy another case for when you want to go out taking piks if your original phone case wont fit.
Sadly my most blingy posh peacock case is just too tight around the cutout and the lenses wont fit; although a little filing either side a few millimeters would allow them to.
The PhotosSoo...its all very well seeing that they look absolutely gorgeous on your phone, but do they work, do they allow you to take great photos...?
Oh Yess! Ill get straight to it, here are the images I managed to capture so far, but I hope to add more as I improve on them.
Macro lens ImagesI was so surprised about the image quality of these lenses, I certainly wasn't expecting such amazing clarity, sharpness and crispness. All 3 have amazing depth of field and bokeh something so hard to get with even the best quality pro-lenses. But the beautifully faded blurriness is smooth with no jpg artifacts often seen.
Macro Lens Images
Im impressed, I had so many favorites I had trouble picking my best ones to show you, so Ive tried to pick a good variety so you can see the styles of images you can capture.
As you can see I just love taking macro flower images.
Macro - Magnifying lens
Magnified hard drive detailing.
My other half came up with a brilliant idea which we tried out successfully tonight, if you are short sighted, collect stamps or coins. Then use your smart phones torch app and pop on the macro lens; you have an instant lit magnifying glass...genius! Guess I will be doing the washing up for that one ;-)
You can see the detail and the huge magnification on my phone screen compared to this hard drive.
Wide-Angle lens ImagesThe quality was also fantastic with these and again the depth of field/bokeh was just exceptional! But I didn't find the combined lens too much different to my own S4 camera.
Wide-angle lens Images
The lens certainly gave more bokeh and a slightly wider perspective. I feel it could depend on the camera built into your phone, but its certainly worth getting. Just look at these images.
Fisheye lens ImagesOh wow I absolutely loved these images, you need to get the right image to get the right effect and I found tall items and round items to work the best; plus landscapes and groups of people.
Fisheye Lens Images
This lens really needs experimenting with as the effects are just stunning and a bit more specialized; but certainly fun compared to the average lenses you can buy for phones!
Im sold I wish I had tried one of these years ago now.
Lens base phone charm cover
Both lenses come with a small phone charm lens cover, this is just brilliant as being metal it stays magnetized to cover the base enabling you to carry it around.
Only one of my lenses the Fisheye arrived without a cover but I discovered I could keep both lenses together temporarily by sharing the phone charm from the wide/macro lens kit.
Forming a mini dumbell and making it really easy to just carry around. The magnets are super strong and they have never fallen apart; although I'm really aware of them, it still could be easy to knock them if your not careful.
I would also advise finding a neat little case too that you can keep your new lenses in, preferably one that's slightly padded. Its a shame they don't come with a mini pouch.
I have several small cases left from buying my Sandisk Compact flash cards for my Canon 7D. I was lucky to receive a neat small case each time I bought one. These are the perfect size to keep these lenses in. They even have a plastic divider to keep 2 cards either side/2 lenses either side...woohoo love it when a plan works!
I now have a perfect case for them and they are attached to my handbag or purse so I never leave without them.
Opinion The Photojojo Aluminum and glass lenses are excellent design and quality as Ive stated all the way through. Im used to using expensive Canon lenses so I honestly didn't expect too much with these, I thought they would be fun to try out.
But proof is in the pudding as they say and Ive been blown away by the amazing photos from these 2 lenses. See for yourself (images above) see what you think, I hope I have done them justice.
These lenses have actually changed how I use the camera on my phone, its made it so much more fun and I always have my phone on me wherever I am.
So now you can become more creative and have so much more fun with your photos. These clever lenses enable you to capture pro-images, enabling everyone to be a photographer. You don't have to spend a fortune to get the same style images as the pros.
A Canon fish eye will set you back over £700-£1,000, macro lens £400 and more. Wide angle £500+. Equaling a whopping £1000+ worth of equipment to capture images like these.
Now for under $50 you too can produce pro-images, you don't need to pay hundreds of pounds worth of professional lenses to capture life and the world.
These three lenses cover a wide range of themes to have fun with and most of us have our phones with us all the time. Just pop the lenses into your bag and you have your own mini pro camera kit in your pocket...how cool is that.
Bloggers - do you use your phone for your blogs you can now add more creative images to your site quickly and easily.
Fun affordable and makes a fantastic gift for anyone who loves photography. Photojojo lenses bring back the fun, add creativity and personality; but also add a more pro look to your images; your imagination is all that's stopping you.
Just get one or two lenses or buy a small kit so your ready to capture anything.
Pros'
- Excellent quality.
- Solid aluminum construction.
- Coated optical quality glass.
- Lightweight.
- Pocket-sized.
- Resulting images stunning.
- Strong metal ring which is easy to snap the lenses on and off.
- Secure do not fall off.
- Comes with lens base phone charm covers and end caps.
Con's
- A small pouch would be nice to keep them in.
You can buy your
Photojojo iPhone and Android Lens series directly from Photojojo.
Or buy lenses separately from
$20 each or all the lenses for $99
Try the sampler which includes the Fisheye, Polarizer and Wide/Macro lenses for
ONLY $49
Or for unique photography gadgets take a surf through their website
HERE
All my thanks to Photojojo for sending me these lenses for this review for you all.
My views and opinions are all my own.
Some of you have been asking about this phone case, here is my full photoploaded review.
Strawberry Bling caseFrom Mobile Madhouse
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