A Product Review: iPhoneography Heaven With The Olloclip

Ever since getting an iPhone 5 upon my return to England a few months ago I’ve been enjoying the benefits of having a camera in my pocket at all times and am getting into ‘iPhoneography’ in a big way. So you can imagine my delight when I came across the Olloclip, an awesome new product that extends your photography beyond that of the basic iPhone camera. It is a quick-change, three way lens attachment that sits over the corner of your iPhone (where the camera is located) and, with the fisheye, wide-angle or macro lenses at your disposal, it transforms your pictures into something amazing.

The first thing you notice about the Olloclip is its size. Very compact and small enough to fit in any pocket, it is the perfect accessory for the travelling iPhone owner. Made from a combination of plastics and metal it is a solid and durable piece of equipment and comes in either black or a shiny metallic red, both of which look striking when perched atop your iPhone.

Combine the Olloclip's Wide Angle lens with the iPhone's Panoramic setting and this is what happens! — Combine the Olloclip’s Wide Angle lens with the iPhone’s Panoramic setting and this is what happens!

The Olloclip is incredibly easy to use and with just a quick maneuver you can switch lenses from Fish Eye to Wide Angle to Macro, all still in plenty of time to capture your moment. Of the three lenses the one I have used most is definitely the Fish Eye, as I love the round, slightly distorted effect it gives, but that’s not to say I don’t make use of the other two lenses too. The Wide Angle lens was a great addition to my iPhone camera on a recent holiday to Mauritius, as it meant I could get some great land and seascape shots and include even more of the paradise around me. And when combined with the iPhone’s own Panoramic setting it allowed me to get an almost 360 degree view! And finally, the Macro lens is one that I absolutely adore and yet it completely baffles me. Adding a slight blur around the edges and focusing just half an inch from its subject, this lens hones in on the unexpected and creates images that are sometimes so astounding you can’t quite work out what they are even of!

Using the Macro lens I was able to get really, really, really close to the sand!

The combination of these three lenses with the Olloclip’s quick and simple operation has meant a complete change in the way I use my iPhone camera. This small and elegant piece of equipment has reignited my passion for finding the magic in an image and, much like the Lomography cameras did for regular photography, the Olloclip has injected a bit of their own fun and crazy rule breaking into this thing we call iPhoneography.