Photojojo Lens Set Review

Magnetic Lenses For Your Smartphone

More people are constantly documenting the many facets of our lives: parties, adventures, food, nature, friends, etc. Most have replaced compact cameras with their smart phones due to the constantly increasing quality of the sensors. We don’t even have to plug in our camera and upload our pictures to our computers with new autosave features from Google+, Dropbox and Facebook. Portability has been traded for functionality and the Photojojo Lens Set seems to partly bridge that gap. The company claims these three lenses are “like pro-lenses for your phone.” I put that claim to the test to find out if these tiny lenses are worth the money in this week’s accessory review.

Cost

For the set of 3+1: $49 (+$6 of shipping). Individually, the Fisheye is $25, the Wide Angle/Macro is $20 and the Telephoto is $20. Since orders of $50+ receive free shipping, 3+1 lens set is the way to go. Don’t like them? Regift them. (Note: the top of the Wide Angle lens screws off to reveal a Macro lens, hence the 3+1 nomenclature)

Setup

Attaching the lenses to your smartphone is painless. Simply take one of the adhesive magnetic rings provided and stick it to the back of your phone. After waiting a half hour for the ring to dry and secure well, you just remove both lens covers and it magnetically attaches to that ring. The force between the external lens and the ring is strong enough so your new lens won't easily fall off.

Look & Feel

The lenses are made of high quality glass and their casing is sturdy aluminium. Each comes with a black, plastic front cap and a strong magnetic back cap. They definitely feel high quality due to their excellently balanced weight, which is even more noticeable when you attach one of them to your smartphone. The back cap has a loop on so you can attach the lens to your keys chain.

Functionality & Performance

In my testing over the past few weeks, I’ve found that the lenses do not negatively affect the quality of the picture. While they might feel as if they are just a novelty, they can actually come in handy. I used the wide angle lens to capture the huge chalkboard after class and I used the fisheye to snap a picture of my entire room after I finished setting it up to send to my dad. Photojojo claims the telephoto lens will allow you to get two times closer without pixilation; they speak the truth. The telephoto lens solves one of main downsides with using your smart phone as your everyday camera: lack of distance shooting. Below are selections from each of the four different lenses.

Fisheye

Telephoto

Issues

Wide Angle

Macro

comparison shots from all lenses

Issues & Downsides

While the 3+1 lens set performed pretty great, it's not without it's flaws. While the adhesive magnetic ring for the iPhone includes a cutout for the flash, the size of lenses block the flash during use on. Unless the flash is over an inch away from the center of your phone's camera, there is no way to use your flash and one of these lenses in conjunction. Unlike competitor Olloclip, you can’t keep the lens on and put it in your pocket. While the lenses have no problem staying on during use, accidentally hitting them with your finger or setting your device down will usually cause the lenses to fall off.

The Verdict

When I ordered these lenses, I really wanted to like them. After using them for a couple of weeks, I feel they have greatly enhanced the abilities of my camera when I have them with me. That is the problem: I don’t always just carry three lenses around with me. Yes, they are small and they have keychain loops, but my wad of keys are already big enough to not fit comfortably in my pocket. I’ll have them if I am carrying my messenger bag with me. While annoying, this is not a fault of the product. For me, these lenses bridge that gap perfectly. So should you buy Photojojo's Lens Pack? Yes.

Originally posted on Feb 15th, 2013 1:02pm on thecolgatemaroonnews.com