Raise your hand if you know about
Photojojo
Hmm. No, I didn’t think I would see many hands.
So let me tell you about this product.
Photojojo promotes itself as having
“The Most Awesome Photo Gifts and Gear for Photographers”;
the tag line says: “for iPad/Instagram/Android/IPodTouch/Vine Photographers.”
Since I have an iPhone, those are the products I was looking at. There are ALL sorts of accessories for iPhone photography, but their series of lenses is what has made news for the brand, and is what I purchased a month ago.
I bought this Wide Angle/Macro lens for $20.00. Since I don’t have a real macro lens for my Canon Rebel T3, I thought this would be great (not to mention fun and sort of cutting edge!)
The site states:
“How it works: each set comes with an adhesive removable metal ring. The ring (or plate) sticks to the back of your phone, and the phone lens attaches magnetically. Snap it on and off in an instant!”
Yes, this is true. But it depends: depending on your model and make phone,you may need to use the ring,or you may need to use the strip. For me, with the iPhone 5 it was the strip. They provide a strip in both black and white so it can color coordinate with the back of your phone. For me it was black.
However, and this is a big H O W E V E R: you cannot use it with a case on your phone. No one stated this, as far as I could see. Now, my case (which I loved) was not easy to get on and off. A few nails would chip every time….not good. So there was no way to use this lens (or any other from Photojojo) unless I had a caseless phone. I went off to the mall in search of an easy on/off case and found a very pliable plastic/rubber one. It’s fine. but it’s not what I really want. Yes, I will keep it, and it’s worked well so far and yes, it’s easy to take off to use the lens.
That was a long explanation, wasn’t it?
Here is the lens attached to my phone. You can just see the black strip at the top of the phone.
This is just how close you have to be to your subject. When they say Macro, they mean MACRO!
You need to hold the lens about 1″, or closer, from your subject.
But just look at what you get:
Kind of amazing, no? Look at that detail!
To give you some perspective here…compare the size of these tiny acorns to a regular lemon:
And last, these are the best close up/macro shots I could get with my existing cameras and lenses. Not really good at all for macro.
Here are some random shots I took out in the garden:
One of my favorites: leaves on our hotel terrace in London.
What do I think about this Photojojo iPhone lens?
At first I was really thrown off by just how macro it is and how close you have to be to the subject. And, the case issue was a problem for me but one with which I have come to terms. I don’t use the lens all that much so I’m fine.
- Recognize that this is going to take some time to get used to and master!
- The least movement of your subject and all is a blur because it is SO macro. And with an iPhone, it can be difficult to hold it steady especially if you have the phone at arms length or not resting securely.
- These lenses are very small! Beware. They would be very easy to lose or misplace.
- Be ready to switch cases if you need to.
I haven’t really used the Wide Angle much so will be experimenting with that soon.
As in so many new technologies, the possibilities are endless! I have barely scratched the surface of the many fun ways to use this lens. Hey, for $20.00 it’s just plain fun….
