For those food bloggers who use an iPhone 4 (or 4s) as their camera, taking good food photographs is one of the biggest challenges you come across. As it happens, a company by the name of Photojojo is trying to make things easier on you by giving attachable lenses for your iPhone.
As the power behind mobile phones increases with each generation, so to does the technical prowess of the cameras inside. Pixel counts increase, new lenses are incorporated, and iPhone apps like Instagram and Flickr are available to make it easier to take good food photographs. But no matter how good your photography skills, no matter how many pixels power that cellphone camera, and no matter how many apps you have, iPhone users have always had to deal with the limitations of having just one lens.
To help remedy that, Photojojo has released three tiny camera lenses that magnetically attach to your iPhone or iPad. The idea is that these external lenses will help you take better pictures. While I have yet to use these (as I don’t have an iPhone), the lenses seem like a legit purchase.
There is a a 180-degree fisheye lens, 2x telephoto lens, and a 0.68x wide-angle lens (which also doubles as a macro lens). If you shop the Photojojo store, the fisheye lens will run you $25 while the other two will cost $20 a piece. However, if you buy the complete set, it’s just $49.00. However, I poked around on the internet and found the entire set for less than $30 from a number of retailers.
To use the lenses, you have to attach a metal ring to your phone’s lens (using an adhesive). Then, each lens can snap magnetically to the ring. It sounds like a good system and feedback on the lens quality seems pretty good; although, a few people have complained that the attachment blocks the phone’s flash. As a food photographer, that shouldn’t be a major concern to you. So while buying a dedicated point-and-shoot (or even a full dSLR) is the way to go if you’re looking for top quality food pictures, the Photojojo set seems like an inexpensive alternative. I’m curious to know what other phones this may work on. If anyone of you has tried these, please hit us with some feedback in the comments section! You can also find some sample shots over on TUAW.
1 comment Write a comment