cell phone camera lens
lens attachment for Your SmartPhone

Attachable Lens

Are those clip-on lenses promising DSLR-quality photos really worth the investment? Let's dive in. Many camera phone accessories simply don't make any sense.

Cell phone cameras have come a long way, but there's always a desire to push the boundaries further. Enter cell phone camera lens accessories. These tiny gadgets promise to transform your smartphone into a powerful photography tool, offering everything from wide-angle shots to extreme close-ups. But do they actually deliver?

This post will tell you about the three types of lenses for your cell phone and help you decide if it would be worthwhile for you to get one yourself. The three main types of lenses are macro, telephoto and wide-angle with fish-eye lenses being included in the wide-angle category.

A macro lens attachment will simply allow you to get much closer to your subject, sometimes closer then a distance of one inch. Macro photography can be a lot of fun and literally opens a new world of possibilities for photography with a camera phone.

Mobi-lens for cell phone cameras

The Mobi-Lens

Here are the highlight features of the clip-on mobi-lens for your smart phone.

• Clips onto Front & Back of Most Devices
• 2-in-1 Lens
• Macro Provides Close Focusing
• 0.67x Screw-On Wide Angle Lens
• Compact, Portable Design

Macro photography brings with it a very small depth of field to work with so getting your subject in clear focus can be a challenge.

Also remember that when you are in quite close, even the slightest camera or subject movement is exaggerated and you can end up with blurry pictures.

Tip: get as much light on your subject as you can and your macro photos will come out much sharper. For some mysterious reason the telephoto lens is the least popular cell phone camera lens attachment in terms of the number of them purchased.

Cell Phone Telephoto

If you really don't want to carry a traditional SLR camera or it's little sister, a point and shoot camera with a zoom lens, a telephoto lens for your mobile phone certainly is lightweight and easy to bring along anywhere.

Standard cell phone camera lenses are designed to be mild wide-angle lenses, so distant objects are simply way too small. You can crop your image afterwards, but the image quality really suffers when you do that.

Telephoto lenses are sold within kits that include a tripod and a few other accessories and most are made for the iPhone. Sorry Android users.

They certainly look a bit funny, but who cares as long as you take advantage of its intended uses.  Most of the telephoto lenses for mobile phone range from 6x up to 10x magnification. The fish eye lens can give some really cool photos, but like the other two types, takes a bit of experimenting and practice to get some good images.

20x Telephoto lens for camera phone

One of the nice characteristics with a fish eye lens is that everything is in focus. Fish eye lenses have a very deep depth of field, meaning everything close to and distant from your camera is within the range of sharp focus.

If you have a fairly high megapixel sensor and some decent lighting, you've got a good chance for a great photo.

quality of lens

Realize that the axiom that you get what you pay for is very true for just about every piece of photography equipment you can buy.

Olloclip Lens for cell phone camera

ease of use

Think it through before buying a cell phone lens. If you think it will be too awkward to use, you probably won't. Like any gadget, it should be at least somewhat easy to attach and should not be difficult to carry.

Some systems have a clamping apparatus to attach the lens to your mobile phone. This is more secure then some of the more suspect adhesive-magnetic attachments that may not be as functional or durable.

cell phone camera lens prices

The large majority of the cell phone camera lens systems are extremely affordable, so there really isn't much risk in buying one. For just a few dollars you can turn the limits of the standard lens built into your mobile phone and make it into a fun tool to experiment with digital photography.

The video below gives you a visual of what kind of change you get in view when you add one of these camera lenses to your mobile phone.

Finding the right lens to get some great photos also depends on having the right mobile camera in your phone to begin with. Here is an article on finding the Best Cell Phone Camera. A great place to learn more about these lenses and other cell phone accessories is to read up on the reviews written by people who have purchased them.

As an Amazon affiliate I may receive a small commission from qualifying purchases, at NO added cost to you.

Summary

If you're a casual photographer looking to add a bit of fun and variety to your shots, cell phone camera lens accessories can be a playful addition. However, if you're serious about photography and expect DSLR-level results, you'll likely be disappointed.

Getting a lens for a mobile fun can add a whole new avenue of fun for yourself.

Have a blast!

ABOUT BRUCE LOVELACE

Bruce is the publisher of this website. He is the author of the book "Improve Your Photography Instantly."  Read more on Bruce on his Bio Page. He's been known as The Traveling Photographer ever since 1994. Read more about this website.

View some of Bruce's photos on Instagram.   Visit the Facebook Page. Watch him on YouTube.  Bruce runs photo workshops for kids and adults, and provides one-on-one photography coaching.

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