My birthday is coming up and my family is being kind enough to indulge my iphoneography, and buy me an olloclip attachment to make my amateur photos better. Or more accurately, to play with. Problem is, reading all the reviews isn’t really helping me decide which version to get. So, surely there’s some folks here that can help me out.
Some further information:
I have an iPhone 6.
My primary desire is to be able to take photos from farther away and yet they show up as clearly, and with as much detail, as possible.
My options are thus…
•The 4-in-1 lenses have two macros (10 and 15X), a wide angle and a fish eye
•A telephoto lense + CPL
•Or a 3-in-1 set of macros (at 7, 14 and 21 magnification)
That’s it. Anyone have any experience with them? I’ve been reading reviews out the wazoo and know some of the drawbacks, but I’d like to know if any Dopers have first-hand experience. I trust y’all more than Forbes or Wired
And yes, I know I should use a real camera instead. I know that phones take crappy pictures. I know I’m the downfall of photography. But that aside, I’m trying to finally have a hobby again, one that makes me happy and keeps me unstressed, and right now, this is the right thing for me. If anyone has any other opinions about how us evil smart phone folks are ruining the world, can we save that for the Pit? 'Preciate it.
On the off chance that anyone knows what in the hell I’m talking about and wants to offer up some advice, thanks in advance.
I’ve seen stuff like this, but haven’t tried any lately. You probably are better off trying for yourself and returning if you can find some place locally that sells these (or something like it).
I think each persons preference is going to vary and you aren’t going to be able to tell without trying it out.
And you were probably aware of this and wanting to snip off any problems in the bud, but phones aren’t awful for photography. At least not always. If you can capture the field of view you want and the lighting isn’t to dark - you can take some pretty good photos with your iPhone.
I have several thousands of dollars in camera equipment (mostly lenses) . I wouldn’t try to pass off my iPhone photos as professional quality or anything, but if the aren’t being printed - and sometimes even if they are - in many situations they are A OK.
There are some apps on the iPhone that will allow you to simulate field of view if that would help you make up your mind on any of the specific lenses.
I have the original 3-in-1 lens for the iPhone 4, which has a macro, a fish-eye and a wide angle lens. I wouldn’t bother with that one or any for the iPhone 6 that are similar, because a) it’s really, really difficult to take a decent macro photo without a tripod or something very stable to put your camera/phone on, b) the fish-eye is likely to be something you almost never use (cool at first, but then the charm wears off - quickly) and c) the wide-angle will probably only get used a tad more than the fish-eye. Phones tend to already have the capability to go about as wide as you’d want them to in most circumstances anyway.
Mine sits in the pile of discarded tech these days.
Olloclips are nifty–I have an older one, with macro, wide and fisheye. The glass is decent quality, and it’s a sturdy little thing. Which one you get will mostly be determined by what you like to shoot: I mostly use the macro (an iPhone is smaller and lighter for macro/closeup stuff in the field) and wide on the rare occasions I don’t have my SLR with me for landscape.
Of your options, I’d go for the four in one for myself. If you’re interested in macro, say, then obviously you’d go that way.
I bought one of the first ones available for my wife as a gift to use with her iPhone and she used the fisheye and macro quite a bit…for about a month. Then she decided she would just carry a normal small Panasonic Lumix camera in her purse in addition to her phone. Apparently the pictures weren’t up to snuff for her and when you consider she had to remove the phone from its protective gel case and that it started to peel away at the corner of her screen protector, she got pissed off and didn’t find it any more convenient than a small and inexpensive camera in the long run. Now it just rolls around in the bottom of her purse as a back up in case the camera battery is dead because she forgot to charge it.
But that aside, I’m trying to finally have a hobby again, one that makes me happy and keeps me unstressed, and right now, this is the right thing for me. If anyone has any other opinions about how us evil smart phone folks are ruining the world, can we save that for the Pit? 'Preciate it.