As the iPhone has become an extremely popular point and shoot camera, with the iPhone 4 becoming not just the most popular camera phone but the most popular camera overall on Flickr, hardware accessories have come about to extend the stock lens’ capabilities. 

While this review is mainly for the Olloclip we will also cover it’s closest rivals so you can decide which product may be best for you. 

During the course of testing over the last few months we only looked at three separate lens accessories for the iPhone 4 and 4S as all new iPhone lens adapters seem to support only these phones. The iPhone 3G/GS popularity is waning fast as the iPhone 4S with the improved 8mp sensor and better lens picks up the second most popular camera spot on Flickr.

This is the most extensive testing of any product we sell and after using it consistently for the last three months and taking hundreds of pictures with the Olloclip, I am now a converted fan and consider the Olloclip a must have camera accessory if you use the iPhone 4/4S camera on a regular basis. The tiny size of the Olloclip makes that feasible whereas other lens attachments and adapters which do similar things did not pass our “grab and go” usability testing so easily.

Often, external lenses for the iPhone require special cases with screw on or twist on lenses. What happens is you end up fumbling with a bunch of fragile lenses in your hand as you pull out the one you need from a pouch or handle. 

OLLOCLIP VS iPRO LENS

The iPro Lens system is a high quality lens with case and handle bundle from German’s Schneider Optics company. We previously did a comparison of the iPro Lens vs the Olloclip here. You can consider this and addendum based on further usage.

This well built and solid system includes a plastic case for the iPhone 4/4S with a special bayonet lens mount just like on DSLR’s! Two lenses, a fisheye and a wide angle both about the same size as the Olloclip lenses come with the iPro Lens. Both lenses fit on bayonet mounts that unscrew from a handle with triple purpose as lens protector, camera handle and tripod adapter. In use we found the handle only necessary for shooting videos as it proved advantageous for slightly steadier shots and when shooting either high or low angles.   

The iPro Lens has two great lenses, besting the Olloclip albeit by a narrow margin but noticeably better than iPhone combo lens bundle. However, going back to our usability needs, we had a few problems. Even after practicing several lens changing routines we found several problems if you never need to swap lenses. Unless you always keep one lens attached unscrewing lenses from the handle holder means you juggling 4 independent pieces whenever switching lenses, the lens holder piece, handle body, lens and iPhone 4. While we never dropped the lens we can see that being just a matter of time. 

Although the lenses were slightly better than the Olloclip with less compression on the edges and slightly better contrast the constant fumbling with taking fragile lenses in and out of the handle enclosure made it too fussy. The handle which holds both lens won’t fit in smaller pockets. Plus, in our opinion the way the iPro Lens is designed to hold and protect the lenses on opposite ends of the screw apart handle is awkward.

TESTING VS COMBO LENS BUNDLE

The other lens system for the iPhone 4/4S is a bundle of imported lenses which we also sell that range from macro to a 12x telephoto. The range is more extensive than any other system with 5 lenses. The pack includes a wide angle, macro, fisheye and telephoto lenses in the 2x, 8x and 12x range along with a mini tripod, iPhone 4/4S case, tripod mount and a soft velvet case. Considering an iPhone case can sell for $30 or more, this is a good deal at $95 for anyone looking for a lot of options and accessories at a bargain price.

Yet, again, this system requires using it’s own custom case with threaded screw mount lenses. In use the smaller lenses are best kept separate from the 2 long telephotos for better handling. The telephoto lenses does give the iPhone a reach no other lens system offers but a tripod is a MUST when using either the 8x or 12x telephoto lenses on the iPhone. Even the slightest movement will cause the jelly shutter effects to show up in your shots. We see this system for people who want to experiment with different lenses yet are also looking for the best deal. With a case and lenses along with tripod accessories you get a complete iPhone photo kit. Of course at that price you cannot expect the lenses to be the same quality as the Olloclip or iPro Lens in quality. The lenses, especially the telephotos give a lot of edge bluriness and flare. 

Olloclip Pros
-small and pocketable take anywhere accessory
-combines nicely with other portable accessories
-reasonable price for quality and portability
-decent quality lens optics
-can be used for both photos or videos
-easier to use than competitive products
-Conversation starter

Olloclip Cons
-need to check lenses are clean inside and out
-easy to lose lens caps, perhaps combine into 1 that slips over both lenses
-can only be used with a limited type of iphone case or decals

TO ORDER THE OLLOCLIP GO TO OUR PRODUCT PAGE

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Click to see large images.

Ever since Apple quietly took out the stereo recording feature in the iPhone 4 musicians and people interested in full spectrum recording have been looking for a solution.

Tascam has introduced a new product which finally fulfills that requirement.

TASCAM’s iM2 iPhone mic turns the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch into a high-quality stereo recorder. A pair of condenser microphones plugs into the iPhone 4/4S, iPod Touch 4G, iPad, iPad 2 dock connector.

The microphones are adjustable over 180 degrees for the best sound placement. The uni-directional elements are arranged in an AB pattern for detailed stereo imaging while capturing the ambience of your room.

The iM2 contains its own microphone preamp and analog-to-digital converter for low noise and great audio quality. Unlike mics that use the built-in iPhone preamp, the iM2 can handle up to 125dB sound levels to capture the loudest concerts and instruments without distortion.

We can’t wait to try this recording for iPhone video recording. The thing that intrigues us is the price is certainly right at $80. The Tascam iM2 is available for preorder now.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz recommends the iPhone as the “the snapshot camera of today” and lauds it for ease and accessibility in last night’s Brian Williams show MSNBC. 

The Fuji X10 camera has been anticipated with fanatic zeal since the X10 was introduced earlier this year. Now the camera is finally shipping and the early reviews are trickling in. Some points that come up are excellent low light images even though the sensor is smaller than an APS C dslr. The build quality is similar to the X100 and is not much smaller than it’s older sibling. The price of $599 is $100 to $150 less than the closest cameras in it’s target range, the Lumix LX5, Olympus XZ-1 and Canon S100 so it seems like a fair price for a camera like this.

Fuji X10 Lens Fully Extended

Fuji X10 Camera Back

FUJI X10 REVIEWS

Dpreview sample gallery

Luminous Landscape

Steve Huff Photo review

Steve Huff user review

Techradar 

PC Advisor

A quick primer for those of you unfamiliar with the Olloclip. It is a small lens accessory that clips over the iPhone 4 or 4S giving you the option of a wide angle, fish eye or macro lens for your iPhone. I see this as an essential iPhone photography add on. The wider angle lens and macro give you better photo options while the fisheye while used less frequently provides some very interesting shots.

The iPro Lens eschews the macro but gives you a wide angle and fisheye lens that twists on via a dslr like bayonet mount on a provided custom iPhone case. The two lenses fit inside a metal handle that can be screwed to the case to stabilize it. The handle can also be used as a regular tripod mount.

The iPro Lens has the feel of a quality product. The fit and finish is top notch. All the components from the custom iPhone case, the lens’ bayonet mount to the metal threaded sections of the handle fit precisely with no loose elements.

The bayonet mount of the lenses fit snugly and twist on firmly with about a 45 degree rotation. Unlike other solutions with fully threaded screw mounts that take several twists to lock the bayonet mount acts like a dslr lens and locks on quickly with a small turn. 

Upon use the iPro Lens results look similar to the Olloclip in sharpness but adds a more natural looking color tint making the iPhone 4S’ normally too warm photos seem more realistic. Closely looking at the corners they are both very soft and blurry. The iPro Lens’ fisheye lens has a large “ring” on the outer circle edge but gives a wider fisheye effect. Both of the iPro Lenses’ give a wider field of view than the Olloclip. 

The photos here are some preliminary samples for your perusal. We plan to add more as we test further. Full size downloads at the end of the article.

Original Straight From Camera

iPro Lens Wide Angle

Olloclip Wide Angle

iPro Lens Fisheye

Olloclip Fisheye

In day to day photo taking we found the Olloclip to be easier and quicker to use along with being more portable. While the handle is great for protecting the lenses and one handed video recording, unscrewing sections of the handle to unlock the lenses and having to deal with all these components while mounting a lens makes it more awkward to use than the Olloclip. Unless you snap on the lens ahead of time with the iPro Lens I find it easier and faster to slip the single piece Olloclip onto the iPhone when needed.   

However, using the Olloclip means having to do without a case and using two hands for stabilization.

iPro Lens Pros
-adds more natural color to iPhone 4S photos
-includes an iPhone case and a sturdy metal handle that acts as a protective lens holder and tripod mount
-excellent built quality

iPro Lens Cons 
-no major difference in lens quality between iPro lenses and the Olloclip
-Olloclip has an extra macro lens
-more difficult to use if attaching lenses in the field
-pricy, $199 vs $75 for the Olloclip

We will not carry the iPro Lens in our store but continue to stock the Olloclip.

Full Size Photos From Above (These are large files!).
iPhone 4S photo straight from camera
iPro Lens wide angle
Olloclip wide angle
iPro Lens fisheye
Olloclip fisheye

I was intrigued by Adobe’s release of Carousel last week. Carousel is like iCloud for photos with simple yet powerful editing features borrowed from Lightroom and digital filters similar to other Apps.

That sounds great but like iCloud Adobe wants an annual fee for Carousel, $99 per year or $9.99/mth with a currently running introductory price of $59.99 or $5.99/mth. After perusing the fine print I could not find a storage limit restriction and the literature mentions you can store 100,000 photos in Carousel and their product page claims unlimited storage so I assume there is no limit.

Carousel vs Flickr

This is where I see Flickr losing out on a huge market opportunity. Consider Flickr only charges $25 per year for unlimited uploads and has Picnik photo editing integration they really should have stepped it up and created a better photo editing interface and integrated mobile device filters and editing like Carousel into an app. If they did so there would be no reason for anyone to be using something like Carousel.

Carousel vs Apple’s Photo Stream

The closest competitor to Carousel is Apple’s iCloud service which is their paid cloud media storage service. The difference is Carousel is geared strictly for photos and has unlimited storage. On Apple’s iCloud Photostream only the most recent 1,000 photos are kept and they are kept for only 30 days.  Photostream is more of a short-term workflow tool, while Carousel is a long-term tool.  Carousel allows ALL of your pictures to be available, not just the most recent ones. You are allowed to share your photo Carousel with up to 4 other people. There is also the issue of price, Apple’s fees are 5GB of online storage is free; 10GB is $20 a year; 20GB is $40 a year; 50GB is $100 a year vs Carousel’s all you can eat plan of $99/yr on special now for $59/yr.

Filters

Adobe’s Carousel includes 17 filters a la Instagram or Camera+ but they just don’t seem to have the finesse of the apps that have been around the last few years. Where Carousel excels is in the “Adjustments” settings which is a subset of the best parts of Lightroom but controlled by a single slider. Contrast, Shadow, Vibrance and one that seems stolen from Camera+ “Clarity” are very effective for improving iPhone photos, especially Shadow and Clarity.

Like other photo apps, you can share the photo to multiple social networks. Carousel supports the main ones Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and email but Adobe is behind Instagram in the number of networks it supports.

Conclusion

Carousel is a good solution for people who want to just edit and sync photos but not any other media from their computers, iPhones and iPads and manage all of them in one place. 

Consider the closest competitors are either:
a) iCloud which is geared towards all types of media and does not offer unlimited storage and has no photo editing
b) Flickr which costs less but does not include photo editing.

There are of course other mobile photo editing apps, but they do not sync up edits with your desktop photo library. Adobe Carousel solves this problem by seamlessly syncing all your photos from multiple devices so you can peruse all your photos in one place whether at your office desk or strolling during vacation.

It appears Adobe’s Carousel has potential market for their service, it syncs desktop pictures to a cloud service that is also shared with your phone and tablet. It offers built in editing so you no longer need to jump into another app for editing before upload, saving you another step and the price while not the best is reasonable for unlimited storage.

Currently Carousel is only for Apple OS systems but Windows and Android versions are coming soon.

Adobe Carousel’s Product Page

Gopro, the big helmet camera line our sister site http://pointofviewcameras.com carries has just announced their new HD Hero2 line of pov cameras. The new camera still shoots full 1080p HD but has an 11 megapixel sensor and the processing chip inside is twice the speed of the previous Hero HD.

So what else is new in the Gopro HD Hero 2? Almost all the changes are in the guts of the machine. The physical size of the case is exactly the same as the Hero HD. Smart move because it can use all the same cases, mounts and accessories as all the other Hero cams.

Other much wanted features is showing up on this Gopro. The big ones are mini-HDMI port, composite out. Coming later this winter is the GoPro’s WiFi BacPac which fits in the BacPac port and promises live broadcasting, preview, playback and camera control over WiFi. Wow! Finally, the Hero2 fixes the original HD Hero’s confusing LCD 3 digit code UI with more intuitive and easier to understand icons and text.

The full list of Gopro HD Hero 2 features:

-2X More Powerful in Every Way:
-Professional 11MP Sensor
-2x Faster Image Processor
-2X Sharper Glass Lens
-Professional Low Light Performance
-Full 170°, Medium 12°, Narrow 90° FOV in 1080p and 720p Video
-120 fps WVGA, 60 fps 720p, 48 fps 960p, 30 fps 1080p Video
-Full 170° and Medium 127° FOV Photos
-10 11MP Photos Per Second Burst
-One 11MP Photo Every 0.5 Sec Time-Lapse Mode
-3.5mm External Stereo Microphone Input
-Simple Language Based User Interface
-Compatible Wi-Fi BacPac™ and Wi-Fi Remote
-Long Range Remote Control of up to 50 GoPro Cameras
-Wi-Fi Video/Photo Preview + Playback
-Live Streaming Video + Photos to the Web

Visit our sister site: http://pointofviewcameras.com/gopro for a full review and more details coming soon.

Also check out our Canadian site http://pointofviewcameras.ca or in Europe http://pointofviewcameras.co.uk

Below are some sample photos taken with both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. Compare for yourself how the new camera competes against the old one. You can download original sized images at the end of this article. No photo post processing has been done to the full size images. The smaller images in the side by side comparison were simply resized from the original in Lightroom 3.

You really notice the old iPhone 4 camera’s tendency to overboost saturation and color in these flower photos. Detail is also lost in the bright color patches of the flowers. iPhone 4S tends to keep a little more detail.

Another thing we discovered is that the new faster f2.4 lens tends to give a shallower depth of field and more care must be taken to make sure the focus point is where you want it. A bit more manual focus via touch may be necessary when using the iPhone 4S camera.

iPhone 4

iPhone 4S

iPhone 4

iPhone 4S

iPhone 4

iPhone 4S

We noticed that the color balance tends toward a warmer, slightly yellow tinge in daylight as shown in this macro closeup with the Olloclip.
 

iPhone 4

iPhone 4S

White balance seems better on the new iPhone camera as seen on the plates. The iPhone 4 cam tends towards a slight magenta tint.

iPhone 4

iPhone 4S

We saw slightly more shadow detail in darker areas of the picture when shooting with the iPhone 4S.

iPhone 4

iPhone 4S

Exposure is more accurate on the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 4 exposure can be compensated by touching the area in the scene where you want the exposure to be taken in iOS5 but that tends to blow out the highlights. Generally, exposure is more accurate straight off the camera without user intervention on the 4S.

iPhone 4 Auto Exposure

iPhone 4 Manual Touch Exposure

iPhone 4S Auto Exposure

iPhone 4 Auto Exposure

iPhone 4S Auto Exposure

Low light photos were a bit of dissapointment. Shutter speed on the 4S is similar to the 4 which is to say slow. Noise between the 4 and 4S were similar. In dark conditions like the bar the 4S exposed more of the shadows but colors tended towards more of a “video” look.

iPhone 4

iPhone 4S

Apple really emphasized the fast shutter speed of the new camera and in use it is definitely snappy making for a smoother photo experience. Sadly, the focusing speed is about the same as the 4 so while you can snap away quicker, you may end up with more blurry shots as the autofocus cannot keep up with the faster shutter speed. Nevertheless, for still shots or photos without a lot of motion, the new camera can capture moments that would have been missed with the older 4 camera.

Overall the new iPhone 4S camera is a commendable upgrade from the 4.

We got our iPhone 4S via UPS this morning. Our in house Apple fanboy tracked the package from China, where it was less than 24 hours ago. We are using it to test some of the gear we sell and for another secret project.

Our staff videographer Mark was totally stoked on the product too after seeing the video on Kickstarter. Since then I have been communicating with Justin at Cinetics on the Cineskates status. We are located in Canada and even though Justin shipped them on September 16th we finally got them in today.

Here is our Cineskates unboxing and first overview. Here is a short demo we did with the Cineskates. Come back later for upcoming video review and more demos.

In the meantime enjoy the unboxing and detailed shots of this neat dslr dolly setup.

Finally! After Canada Post finished dicking around and bogged down our shipment in customs the box arrives.

Since we were the first ones to buy the full kit, I bugged Justin to put something special on the box. As you can see it’s marked 1 of 100, flames on the side.

Thank you note from the company and instructions.

The Cineskates come with a bag with pockets and drawstring cinch with a lenscloth in a pouch.

Gorillapod and Joby Ballhead X dslr camera head.

The Cineskates look solid and well built with hard plastic and metal all around.

I asked Justin to mark our set with something special since we bought the first one, so the skate wheels have 1/100 marked on each wheel. Thanks Justin for getting back quickly on all our questions and doing the special markings.

We mounted the Cineskates to our Canon T2i. We rushed it so I’m not sure if we mounted everything properly and lined up the wheels right.

Here are some more closeups of the Cineskates from various sides. The wheels are really solid and smooth with some nice flame like designs on the sides. The wheel cups slip onto the bottom of the Gorillapod Focus. The Gorillapod can hold up to 11 pounds, enough to handle a large DSLR and a heavy lens.

Mark and I took this out in the hallway for a quick spin. We hope to post even more videos made with the Cineskates in action soon. Check back here soon for a more thorough review.

So the new iPhone 4S was announced today and crashed Apple’s site. While the new Siri voice recognition system is very interesting and seems useful if it means oversharing your life somewhat (sexting just got a whole lot more public), what we are really interested in is the camera.

We are still waiting to get our hands on one for full on testing but here is the gist of what was said about the iPhone 4S camera from today’s announcement.

• fast! only .5 second shutter speed
• 8 megapixel sensor, 3264x2448
• new backlit LCD sensor gets 73%more light than iPhone 4
• larger f2.4 aperture lens, just a bit faster than the iPhone 4
• 5 element lens for theoretically sharper images
• includes a hybrid ifrared filter for more accurate and vibrant colors while reducing red ghosting and chromatic abberations
• video is now 1080p at 30fps vs the 720p of the iPhone 4

They sound like incremental upgrades but the faster shutter speed is much welcomed so we will be doing a side by side comparison to the iPhone 4 shortly.

Along with the hardware specs, the iPhone4S running iOS5 will add some long requested features. iOS5 will have a new camera app that puts a camera icon on the lock screen so you can get to your camera that much quicker without signing in first. This is something Android phones have had for some time and it’s good to see Apple finally catching up. Oh, let’s all cheer for the long awaited hardware buttons as shutter release feature! Now the volume up button can be used as a shutter release.

Other goodies include grid lines, pinch-to-zoom gestures, and what seems to be single-tap for focus and exposure locks. Crop and rotate, auto enhance and red eye removal are all part of the native camera app, features that 3rd party apps such as Camera+ used to do. Hopefully the native app is good enough to get rid of at least one third party app.

Overall, nothing earth shatter but evolutionary upgrades that keep the iPhone’s camera at the top of the burgeoning camera photography field.

Panasonic, known for their well reviewed point and shoot and mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras has jumped into the Android phone fray. This is Panasonic’s first camera phone. The slider type phone inherits the interface and their vaunted “Venus Engine” image processing from the Lumix cameras. The 13.2 mp camera has quick and easy wireless sharing and what appears to be the biggest lens on any smartphone I have ever seen. Even the flash is like a point and shoot, unlike the tiny LED’s in other Android phones.

The Panasonic Lumix phone contains a 4 inch QHD LCD screen with 960×540 resolution, Wi-Fi, and DLNA. Weighing 128g and measures 64×123×9.8mm the shockproof, weather-sealed camera phone model comes out in the fall.

To fill that need there seems to be an almost infinite number of phone specific tripod mounts. We are going to cover the best iPhone and smartphone tripods here.

iPhone Tripods

Glif

The Glif was designed to be a pocketable tripod mount and stand for the iPhone 4. This is perfect for travellers or people who appreciate a small and elegant iPhone mount. The Glif slips on the bottom of the iPhone 4 for taking steady pictures or making movies. You can put your iPhone in the side slot for hands-free FaceTime or to watch videos.

You can purchase the Glif from our store.

Steadicam Smoothee

The Steadicam Smoothee is a steadicam built for the iPhone using a custom holder as shown in the photo. We will have a full on review of the Steadicam Smoothee eventually but the sturdy camera holder of the Smoothee has a very solid tripod mount at the bottom. This mount can be purchased separately.

Universal Smartphone Tripods

This is a universal smartphone tripod mount that can be used for iPhones, Android phones, Blackberries or just about any phone with a camera. The rubber tab on top pulls up the spring loaded wire holder and you slide the phone into it.

Lovers of tilt shift photography and soft focus plastic type lenses can now add a whole repertoire of those lenses to the DSLR film making. Only available for Canon DSLR’s like the 5D MKII, 60D or T3i or Arri movie cameras for now, LensBaby has combined all their lens offerings in a single unit packaged in a hard shell case. Fish eye lenses, tilt shift, wide angles, soft focus apertures, shaped bokeh, pinhole, macro kit, conversion lenses, they are all here in the Lensbaby Movie Maker’s Kit.

All you creative movie makers on a budget can now get some trippy effects to your oeuvre.