Some fantastic lenses and accessories for iPhones can enhance your creative photography options. Basic iPhone models have the 0.5x and 1x lenses which are both very wide angle lenses. Pro iPhone models have the extra 2x lens which I find very useful, but their cost can be a major limiting factor for many of us.
But I have discovered many cheap third party 2x lenses that fill this gap and at the same time offer decent image quality.
I use the SKYVIK SIGNI One 60mm Telephoto Lens for my beach pictures.
I like to step into the water and click pictures of people on the beach, and also go in amongst teams playing football on the beach and click them in action against the skyline. While I’m clicking these pictures my phone is at risk of getting splashed by seawater or being knocked over by a football – both of which happen all the time.
So I use an older iPhone 7 to click pictures on the beach, and I invariably always have the SIGNI One 60mm lens on it. The field of view of this lens is more or less similar to the 2x field of view of an iPhone camera.
Even an old iPhone 7 with a SIGNI wooden-finish mobile phone case onto which the 60mm or other external mobile phone lenses screw onto looks like something from out of space and draws plenty of attention from people around who wonder how such a setup can help with their own photography endeavors.
The gadget that you see gripping the back of my phone is an Ulanzi Bluetooth Shutter and Grip which helps me hold my phone and click pictures like a real camera.
One day a lad split from his football game to come and ask me which phone I was using. He probably expected it to be the latest state of the art phone that he had never heard of. But when I told him it was an iPhone 7 that I was using (in a world of the iPhone 15), he looked at me in disdain and ran back to his football game.
Every evening lots of children and young adults play football on Versova Beach in North Mumbai. In an overcrowded city, the beach offers a space for people to play sports such as football, cricket, and volleyball. Others come to paint sunsets, play the guitar, or create content for their social media profiles.
Once while I was walking on the beach looking for my next photo opportunity someone behind me kicked a football in my direction and it hit my hand and my iPhone 7 went flying over ten feet away towards the sea. Neither did the phone nor did the SKYVIK SIGNI One 60mm Telephoto Lens break, but they had wet sand all over them.
Some sand went inside the lens, and is still there all around its edges. It’s still present! You can observe it in the lens picture above. But I don’t care, it doesn’t seem to affect the picture quality so much even though the front of the lens has developed some hairline scratches. Had this happened to a more expensive phone or lens, I would have been angry. That’s why I don’t use my more expensive iPhone 14 on the beach. But I use it for travel and street photography elsewhere where it’s less prone to dust, water, or footballs, and while I’m in the mood for this sort of artistic exploration rather than serious photography with DSLR cameras.
The sharpness of a lens is vital for my professional work, and I want to use the best lenses for the job. However in a mind space of creative exploration with an iPhone, if the external lens that I’m using is slightly less sharp than another slightly more expensive brand, I’m okay to use it in challenging conditions such as the beach so that even if it gets damaged, I can toss it in the bin and get a new one.
I don’t use an external lens fix on my iPhone 14 for street photography. But I use a SIGNI One 25mm macro lens and Kase 85 mm 4K macro lens for food photography and close ups of nature.
The difference between a 25 mm and 85 mm macro lens is that the 85 mm lens gives you a lot more working distance, between 4 and 8.5 centimetres whereas you need to get very close to your subject, almost touching it with a 25mm macro lens.
If you like to use external lenses with your iPhone, consider using a suitable lens case that you can screw your lens onto rather than using a bulky clip. They are available for the following models:
iPhone Videography
I use a SIGNI One Anamorphic Lens for iPhone videos, along with either a BOYA wireless microphone for a quick and easy workflow or the RODE Wireless GO II for professional work.
There are many 3-axis gimbal stabilisers available, but I use the Technoview Q08 1-axis stabiliser because it is very easy to set up and use. This is most useful if you are not moving around a lot while filming, if you do then you will need a 3-axis stabiliser.
External lenses offer a wonderfully creative point of view. And if you couple them with a good gimbal, you can film some remarkable super slow motion video footage with your iPhone.
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