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Yeah, likewise. I have high end kit (and some semi-pro lighting) which I love to use, but I now use a secondhand iPhone X, an Apexel teleconverter lens and a c

Yeah, likewise. I have high end kit (and some semi-pro lighting) which I love to use, but I now use a secondhand iPhone X, an Apexel teleconverter lens and a cheap Ulanzi grip, and I really enjoy this combination for its immediacy. The higher end kit is now increasingly used in novel, DIY ways, because carrying a phone has taught me that gear should be used for its strengths.

polskibus 5y ago
Would you mind sharing which Apexels do you recommend?
- unfocussed_mike 5y ago
  I have just the one now. It's the Apexel HD 2X telephoto. I bought it because I wanted a slightly longer lens for portrait location scouting, and chose this one not because I am certain it is excellent but because I doubt there's enough of a quality gap between the Apexels and the Moment or Rhinoshield lenses to justify the much higher price. It is really fairly good though, until you get into the corners. But then I happily use vintage lenses on my A7II that are worse in the corners! What difference there is, is that the Moment lenses use a tiny bayonet, which I think I would prefer to the 17mm thread Apexel, Ulanzi and others use. Screwing the lens on can be fiddly, especially with the semi-open, three-quarter circumference attachment threads you typically see on lens adapter phone cases. Don't use the clamp attachments. They are hard to align and I think that is a lot of why people find attachment lenses so disappointing. Get a phone case with a built-in 17mm thread (or bayonet if you pick a bayonet lens type). I think I'm using a Ulanzi case. The only frustration that remains is that the iPhone's built-in camera app does not let you force the choice of either of the lenses. It will choose for you if you pick 2x. So you might want an app. I really like the ProCamera app. I'm not sure whether accessory lenses are so useful on some of the three and four camera mobiles, but it works well enough for my iPhone X.
  - prawn 5y ago
    I've had a few clamp-style lens attachments for my iPhone and you have to keep them very clean or they can scratch the screen. Plus the alignment, as you said, is finicky.
ghaff 5y ago
Cameraphones have gotten to the point where I should probably consider getting some external lens gear. It didn't really make sense to me when there were so many other compromises with respect to image quality but offering some additional options when traveling with just a phone is probably legit useful at this point.
- unfocussed_mike 5y ago
  The Apexel HD 2X lens has been useful for me. Cheap enough not to stress about, and just enough extra reach to be useful. I really enjoy the cheap little Ulanzi CapGrip thing, too. It's definitely not 100% like using a real camera (no half-press for focus, though I am a back-button-focus guy on DSLRs anyway!) But it adds just enough of a camera-like feel to allow relaxed one-handed grips and slightly more immediate shooting. And it weighs nothing so it's always in a bag or jacket pocket.
  - ghaff 5y ago
    Thanks. I'll probably wait until my next upgrade which will probably be a good couple of years. But I can absolutely see pulling the plug on upgrading my other cameras at that point. Which would make even going with a couple higher-end Moment lenses pretty thinkable. The always with you is a big thing.
- Forgeties79 5y ago
  Filmic pro was a total game changer re: compression options and image control. Definitely when I started using the video a ton.
  - ghaff 5y ago
    I was really quite interested in film at one point but the overhead in terms of big equipment and film processing cost was just more than I wanted to handle. A smartphone today with a bit of software would have been a game changer.
tomcam 5y ago
Good heavens. A 36X lens from Apexel is all of $64. I love the 21st century.

polskibus 5y ago

Would you mind sharing which Apexels do you recommend?

unfocussed_mike 5y ago
I have just the one now. It's the Apexel HD 2X telephoto. I bought it because I wanted a slightly longer lens for portrait location scouting, and chose this one not because I am certain it is excellent but because I doubt there's enough of a quality gap between the Apexels and the Moment or Rhinoshield lenses to justify the much higher price. It is really fairly good though, until you get into the corners. But then I happily use vintage lenses on my A7II that are worse in the corners! What difference there is, is that the Moment lenses use a tiny bayonet, which I think I would prefer to the 17mm thread Apexel, Ulanzi and others use. Screwing the lens on can be fiddly, especially with the semi-open, three-quarter circumference attachment threads you typically see on lens adapter phone cases. Don't use the clamp attachments. They are hard to align and I think that is a lot of why people find attachment lenses so disappointing. Get a phone case with a built-in 17mm thread (or bayonet if you pick a bayonet lens type). I think I'm using a Ulanzi case. The only frustration that remains is that the iPhone's built-in camera app does not let you force the choice of either of the lenses. It will choose for you if you pick 2x. So you might want an app. I really like the ProCamera app. I'm not sure whether accessory lenses are so useful on some of the three and four camera mobiles, but it works well enough for my iPhone X.
- prawn 5y ago
  I've had a few clamp-style lens attachments for my iPhone and you have to keep them very clean or they can scratch the screen. Plus the alignment, as you said, is finicky.

ghaff 5y ago

Cameraphones have gotten to the point where I should probably consider getting some external lens gear. It didn't really make sense to me when there were so many other compromises with respect to image quality but offering some additional options when traveling with just a phone is probably legit useful at this point.

unfocussed_mike 5y ago
The Apexel HD 2X lens has been useful for me. Cheap enough not to stress about, and just enough extra reach to be useful. I really enjoy the cheap little Ulanzi CapGrip thing, too. It's definitely not 100% like using a real camera (no half-press for focus, though I am a back-button-focus guy on DSLRs anyway!) But it adds just enough of a camera-like feel to allow relaxed one-handed grips and slightly more immediate shooting. And it weighs nothing so it's always in a bag or jacket pocket.
- ghaff 5y ago
  Thanks. I'll probably wait until my next upgrade which will probably be a good couple of years. But I can absolutely see pulling the plug on upgrading my other cameras at that point. Which would make even going with a couple higher-end Moment lenses pretty thinkable. The always with you is a big thing.
Forgeties79 5y ago
Filmic pro was a total game changer re: compression options and image control. Definitely when I started using the video a ton.
- ghaff 5y ago
  I was really quite interested in film at one point but the overhead in terms of big equipment and film processing cost was just more than I wanted to handle. A smartphone today with a bit of software would have been a game changer.

tomcam 5y ago

Good heavens. A 36X lens from Apexel is all of $64. I love the 21st century.