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I liked the iPhone camera from the start. Coming from a variety of Palm Treos, it was a huge upgrade. But even on the new iPhone 3GS, it just doesn’t have enough oomph. I briefly contemplated the Griffin Clarify case, but I don’t like being tied to a case because of a single use factor. (I won’t buy the battery style cases for the same reason.)

So there I was at the airport in Hartford CT with an hour to kill, so I stopped at one of the airport stores and looked through a couple of magazines. That’s when I saw this ad for USB fever. So I thought…$19.99 is worth trying. I received it much sooner than expected – about 10 days, if I recall correctly.

 

The lens I chose is actually two lenses in one. With the two pieces screwed together, it is a wide angle lens. With the wide angle top removed, it leaves you with a powerful macro lens. The package includes two magnetic rings with a self-stick backing. I stuck one onto the back of my RichardSolo Custom case. The back of the lens itself is magnetic and holds tightly to the ring. A tiny lens cover is included, and it’s all attached to a little lanyard. I just throw mine in the pocket of my purse where I keep my other electronics accessories, so that it’s always available when I need it.

The wide angle lens really increases your view. As you can see in these photos, the first image was taken on the iPhone 3G. The second was taken from the same position, but with the wide angle lens attached. The difference is remarkable.

An equally remarkable difference is seen when using the macro lens.

 

This next set of photos was taken with the iPhone 3GS. It makes an even bigger difference using the 3GS because of its auto focus function. While you can see the entire bar code without the macro lens, you can zoom right in. For document purposes, I will no longer need to carry a magnifying glass, that’s just how good this is.

For another comparison, I took shots of my favorite bracelet. Without the macro lens, you get 3 links in the frame without much definition. Any closer and it becomes a blur. With the macro lens, you get much further in, leaving room for only one link in the frame and much more detail.

The slight bur in the photos using the macro lens I attribute to the fact that you must hold your iPhone so much closer to the subject. This means that the next quest will be some kind of flexible tripod! If you don’t mind carrying this small accessory, it’s a great solution to more flexible iPhone photography.

Written by Alli Flowers - Email

July 3rd, 2009 | Tags: accessories, camera, iPhone, lens, photography | Category: Editorials, Reviews | Subscribe to comments | Both comments and pings are currently closed