I must admit that the iPhone 6s+ camera has compelled me to leave the heavy camera equipment behind more and more often. The little device does some amazing things, things I literally never thought would be possible with such a tool. When I really need a quality shot, however, I still bring out the Canon glass, but the iPhone creates some astonishing photos. And, as they say, the best camera for the job is the one you have with you. I always have my phone.
So, I wondered: could I use a telephoto lens on it? A wide angle lens? A macro? A fisheye? I ordered the YOPO lens kit (from Amazon) for the iPhone 6s+. This is a “quick and dirty” shoot to show you the results. All images are un-retouched. They are presented exactly as the iPhone and lens created them.
All images were shot handheld with my holding the phone by hand with both hands braced against my body holding my breath as I shot to be as still as possible. The photos were shot indoors with the existing ambient lighting from inside and out.
iPhone Image
This first image is the iPhone 6s+ with no lens attachments at all. Color and clarity look very natural. The intense backlighting from the LED light strips behind the shelves and the lamp lights causes the image to darken predictably. The lighting on the large wall poster looks very natural. I don’t notice any distortion from the lens as the parallel lines are in fact parallel.
iPhone Images with the YOPO Lens Kit
This shot uses the YOPO wide angle lens attachment. More area is captured at the expense of image clarity. Parallel lines are beginning to bulge a bit from the center.
This shot uses the fisheye lens attachment. More bulging, which is common for a fisheye lens.
These next three shots uses the 12x zoom lens. As with any zoom lens, focus was a huge challenge, especially shooting handheld. However, you will notice that only the center of the shots tends to come close to being in focus. You will also see very interesting lens distortion in both the horizontal and vertical parallel lines.
I shot the next two images of items on the shelves while standing the same distance from the wall as I was in all of the other shots. The distortion is really pronounced both horizontally and vertically.
These two images were shot with the macro attachment. I worried with both shots that I would actually touch with the lens the object being photographed. I had to be that close to the object to begin to get it in focus. Was I doing something wrong? You will notice the intensely shallow depth of field.
I must say that the attachments attach to the iPhone in the YOPO lens kit case easily and without issue. I also actually like the YOPO iPhone case better than the Apple case! I’ve stopped using my Apple case and leave the YOPO case on the phone all of the time. All of the iPhone buttons are exposed for easy operation, something not the case with the Apple iPhone case.
The 12x telephoto lens is not a zoom lens. It is fixed at 12x. You can not zoom in or out, only focus at the 12x zoom.
So, for very, very, very casual photography, OK, the YOPO lens kit sort of works. But the lens kit in no way produces professional results that I would feel comfortable blowing up and mounting on the wall. I was hoping for more, but I’m sure the camera “brain” is optimized for the Apple lens alone. And for only $40, you know you aren’t going to be purchasing quality glass.