One of the greatest things about smartphones is the simple fact that you always have a camera on you. Gone are the days of lugging around a point-and-shoot camera… and thank goodness! To make matters even better, Apple, Samsung and other smartphone makers are constantly one-upping each other and packing better and better cameras into their tiny devices.
But smartphone photography is still underwhelming when compared to the kinds of photos that a full-featured digital camera can take. However, there is some middle ground that is now being explored by manufacturers of smartphone camera lenses. Does snapping on an external lens turn your smartphone into a professional camera? No, but it does offer some advantages for those looking to capture certain types of images.
Limitations of Smartphone Cameras
First, let’s quickly explore exactly why your smartphone camera is limited compared to other types of cameras. A camera lens needs light in order to take a picture and your phone has a tiny lens. That means less light. And because the lens is embedded into the phone’s case, there is no optical zoom capabilities. The digital zoom that smartphones can perform reduces the quality of your photo drastically.
Where you get your real bang with smartphone photography is through the software. The post-image processing that occurs on a top-of-the-line device allows you to take photos that look better than they would without software. This is most evident if you use portrait mode or take panoramic photos, but it applies to every shot.
Surpassing Limitations
Smartphone camera lenses really shine when a photographer is looking to get around the basic limitations of their lenses that we described above.
A telephoto lens will allow photographers to achieve optical magnification to zoom in and get photos that are more crisp than digital zooms.
Wide angle lenses and fisheye lenses allow the photographer to capture more in their frame. The fisheye apps out there don’t even come close to achieving what even a snap-on fisheye lens can achieve.
Macro lenses will allow a photographer to get those up-close photos without having to fight the smartphone on focusing while holding the camera close.
Who Needs a Smartphone Camera Lens?
It really boils down to specific photo needs. If you need to take macro, zoomed, wide angle or fisheye photos with your smartphone, then a lens is absolutely worth it.
The casual smartphone photographer who just wants to take snaps when the opportunity arises will most likely never need a lens accessory. Their needs are just too basic. The hassle of lugging around and caring for external lenses are probably not worth it.
But whether or not it sounds like you need a camera lens accessory, happy shooting!
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