Moment iPhone 75mm macro lens lets you get close and personal

Smartphones are wonderful tools that enable a great deal of functionality, from productivity to gaming to creativity. Their cameras, in particular, are powerful enough to threaten even point-and-click and entry-level cameras, but there are still some things that aren’t possible to achieve because of limitations in size and price. DSLRs, for example, have a wider variety of applications because they can swap out lenses depending on the need. That’s impossible with smartphone cameras, but a compromise has been developed that lets you augment or change the way those cameras work by attaching a separate lens, like this new accessory from Moment that enables a powerful macro shot that’s not normally available on the iPhone.

Designer: Moment

Some Android phones advertise having a macro camera, but those really don’t do justice to what macro lenses are truly capable of. Not only are the magnification levels low, the imaging sensors are also so substandard that it might be better to have no macro camera at all. The only way you’ll be able to pull off a pleasant or dramatic close-up shot is to pair an appropriate lens with a decent sensor.

That’s exactly what the new Moment macro lens brings to the table by attaching a lens with a 75mm focal length equivalent to the powerful wide or ultrawide camera of a smartphone like the iPhone 15 Pro. This kind of lens allows the mobile photographer to capture crisp foreground details with pleasant blurring in the background, even from a distance of four inches from the subject. With a 10x magnification, you can achieve an intense shallow depth of field while still including more of the background in the shot.

Normally, you wouldn’t be able to attach a different lens on a smartphone, but Moment’s T-Series lenses use an innovative yet easy-to-use system to make that possible. In a nutshell, you put a special protective case on the iPhone and then attach compatible lenses on the specially designed mounts to expand the camera’s capabilities using lenses that would have never fit inside the cramped space of a smartphone. This ingenious design means that this new Moment macro lens can also be used on other phones, including the Pixel 8 or Samsung phones, provided you use the matching case or special mount made for the T-series lenses.

With the Moment 75mm macro lens, you can take breath-taking close-up shots of natural objects or even moving subjects, allowing you to create better memories or even win some awards. The $119.99 price tag is a bit tough to swallow, but professionals will probably be able to justify such an expense if they can get more stunning images in every shot. Of course, there’s also the hidden cost of requiring that case to always be on, at least while you’re using the lens, and the lens jutting out from the phone’s back awkwardly, but these are the things that your social media followers will probably never see anyway.

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This Multi-Lens Camera Shoots Digital 3D Pictures and Captures GIFs

For hundreds of years, photographs have been the dominant way of capturing memories. Whether of historic events or family gatherings, it’s almost a ritual to take out a camera and snap a picture, freezing a memory in time… but there’s one thing these pictures seem to miss – depth. In fact, Apple addressed this exact shortfall when they announced Spatial videos on their Vision Pro device (and even the latest iPhone 15 Pro), but there’s really no need to spend upwards of $3000 to capture memories more immersively. Multi-lens cameras with 3D shooting capabilities have existed for a while now (the Nishika N8000 or the Kodak Stereo Camera come to mind), but the Moment 3D Camera reinvents and reinvigorates the category. While previous cameras shot 3D images on film, the Moment 3D Camera does it digitally, relying on a linear array of 4 lenses that simultaneously take photographs to capture parallax, which our brain perceives as depth.

Designer: Olga Orel

Simply put, the Moment camera freezes a moment in time, capturing 4 different angles to make it look more immersive, and frankly a lot more cooler than a regular photograph. A series of 38mm lenses work in tandem to take photos at the exact same time, which are then presented on the camera’s viewfinder display. The images are showcased as GIF files,panning from left to right to create a trippy sense of depth. Bet your Polaroid can’t do that…

“I discovered old cameras such as Nishika N8000 and Nimslo from the 1980s made by various companies with the same idea of stereography. They were quadrascopic (four lenses) cameras designed to produce four half-frame images from a click of the shutters. Lenticular prints could be made from the negatives,” says Olga Orel, the designer behind the Moment 3D Camera. “Unfortunately, the demand for these products was low due to people losing interest while waiting for the prints, which could take weeks and by some accounts, months to return to the consumer. You have to understand, these cameras were introduced BEFORE we knew anything about GIFs or JPEG files!”

Designed to look and function like a regular camera, the Moment’s multi-lens system gives you a new way to shoot photos without really having to learn anything. Point, look into the viewfinder, and hit the shutter button and the camera does the rest. A viewfinder lets you compose your shot, although there’s also a touchscreen display you can look at. The camera has zoom functionality, a flash, and the ability to toggle between modes, letting you choose whether you’re shooting humans, sceneries, or even macro shots of objects up-close.

Notably, images get captured in a vertical portrait orientation only. The photos you capture are displayed on a vertical touchscreen interface where you can crop and edit media, as well as view photos/GIFs clicked previously. You can even set timers for selfies, and a tripod mount on the bottom proves exceptionally handy when you want to click photos hands-free.

Images get saved onto an SD card, although you can directly hook your Moment 3D camera to an external display through its HDMI port too. Moreover, a USB-C port lets you connect your camera to devices like your laptop, tablet, or phone, and even lets you charge your camera too. Meanwhile, like any handheld shooter, the Moment 3D Camera has a removable battery on its base that you can hot-swap like most photographers would, giving you the ability to freely and confidently shoot 3D images and GIFs as you would regular photos!

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This $49 Reusable Film Camera gives your Holiday Photos the Perfect Retro Touch

You may know Moment for their top-notch smartphone photography gear. Moment makes some of the best iPhone camera lenses (the Anamorphic lens still remains on the top of my wishlist), and even accessories like filters, tripods, and mounts, but the company is now dipping its toe into actual photography with the Long Weekend, a 35mm point and shooter with a disposable-camera aesthetic, but a reusable film design. With an incredibly modest price tag of $49.99, the Long Weekend is perfect for holidays, get-togethers, and special events. The photos it clicks have a distinct retro appeal with the focus-free 31mm, F9 optical grade acrylic lens that gives your images a dreamy 90s aesthetic.

Designers: Long Weekend & Moment

Click Here to Preorder: $49.99

The Long Weekend is a perfect camera for low-stakes high-memories photography, whether it’s a wedding, a beach holiday, or even your kid’s first serious camera. It’s intuitive to use (with just a shutter button and a flash switch) and comes with a lightweight plastic body that can take a few bumps without your heart skipping a beat. The camera comes in two color-ways – a default black, and a gorgeous retrocam-looking cream and blue that reminds us of the Polaroid OneStep.

Optimized for 135 Film (24X36mm) with an ISO range of 200/400, the camera offers versatility in film choice, allowing users to experiment with various film stocks, from classic black & white to popular color films like Kodak Ultramax. The focus-free 31mm, F9 optical grade acrylic lens simplifies the shooting process, making it a great tool for beginners. However, this simplicity does mean a reduction in creative control, as there are no adjustable settings for shutter speed or aperture.

The camera’s shutter speed is fixed at 1/120, and the aperture is locked at f/9, offering a depth of field that covers objects from a distance of one meter onwards. This focus-free approach makes operation straightforward, as you’d expect from a disposable camera… but with the ability to switch out films and continue shooting for as long as the camera lasts you! The lens is made of plastic, resulting in blurry and vignetted corners, a characteristic that you’ll surely come to love.

The Long Weekend also comes equipped with a built-in flash (with a recycle time of 10-15 seconds), making it suitable for low-light shooting. This feature, along with its simple and intuitive operation, makes the camera a fun, easy-to-use device for all skill levels. The flash and the camera itself draw power from a single AAA battery, adding to its convenience and portability.

The camera is available for preorder at $49.99, with deliveries expected to begin from December 26. That may mean missing out on capturing the holiday memories with your friends and family, but it’s just in time for your New Years party or a holiday that follows after!

Click Here to Preorder: $49.99

The post This $49 Reusable Film Camera gives your Holiday Photos the Perfect Retro Touch first appeared on Yanko Design.