We often heard "A good photographer isn’t defined by their equipment but how they overcome limitations." While some says our smartphones are equipped with better cameras than ever before, we’re still stuck with the same digital zoom technology that’s been around for a few years. Now, there are better ways to taking smartphone photos with zooming gadgets than using built-in digital zoom, especially if you don’t want blurry or crispy images outcome.
Recently, I got hold of ReadyZoom Lens from That Mobile Shop. I was provided with their Officially 12x Zoom Lens which feels more like a 20x Zoom lens, for Product Reviewing on my blog. So here's my sharing after a week of trying out.
This was taken at my boyfriend's home. He have many Toys collection, in this mess form. So I took a chance to take a photo from about 1m distance away from the Toy shelf. The top photo shows, Photo by my Iphone 6 without any attachment. The bottom images are the ones at the same distance and with the ReadyZoom Lens. Both were sharp and clear.
However, something to note is, this is not a macro lens. So that also means, if i were to stand nearer to the Toy shelf i won't be able to get bigger toy figurine in my photos. And, something to note is this Lens is good for people who loves to take photos far off, and loves zooming around without spoiling the photo quality.
When I stepped infront of that 1m distance, i realized there'll be "distance blur". The reason is actually because of its Focal length. If you're not sure what is focal length, here's the explanation for it:
Focal length, usually represented in millimeters (mm), is the basic description of any DSLR's photographic lenses. It is not a measurement of the actual length of a lens, but a calculation of an optical distance from the point where light rays converge to form a sharp image of an object to the digital sensor in the camera. The focal length of a lens is determined when the lens is focused at infinity. (Turning to the extreme left of ReadyZoom Lens, shows the sharpest of the Lens at a correct distance)
The focal length tells us the angle of view, how much of the scene would be captured and the magnification. The longer the focal length, the narrower the angle of view and the higher the magnification (usually longer focal length are for far lenses like zoom lenses). The shorter the focal length, the wider the angle of view (usually shorter focal length works on wider lenses). That is also why some wide angle lenses are good for macro shorts because you can get nearer to the subject. However, individual lenses would have different focal length of its own.
If this doesn't get you there, you just gotta understand the basics:
Focal Length of human eyes is 20mm, anything that we bring to our eyes to see is less sharp or blur if it's less than 20mm distance apart from our eyes and the subject / item. It works the same way for our Camera & lenses. For majority of the iPhone it's roughly about 30mm for focal distance, so that explains why our phones are so much convenient to take photos. We can easily take near or far shots as we like. So all we need more, is a good Zoom lens to keep our far shot sharp.
Using ReadyZoom Lens is simple, the Focal Length knowledge is just something more that you can learn today. As far as you know, ReadyZoom Lens is better far off than near shots it is almost good enough.
For mobile-graphers who are very particular about quality, the above photo situation might turn you off. However, these 3 points are able to prevent.
NOISE
In digital photographs, “noise” is the commonly-used term that looks similar to grain found in film photographs, but can also look like splotches of discoloration when it's really bad, and can ruin photograph's details in the big picture. Noise tends to get worse when you're shooting in low light.
So to prevent that, you've got to provide more lights for your shots. (Please note that Noise are not produced by the Lens but is by your camera) However, the further we zoom there will be lesser light source coming into your camera lens.
DISTANCE BLUR
Like i mentioned above, as long as you're 1m distance away from your subject. Photos can be as sharp and clear as it is, just like the above image.
MOTION BLUR
While there are many kinds of Blur situation, Motion blur is one of the most common mistakes most people would have made even without any Lens attached to the phone. It's individual how stable or how shaky our hands are. So if you think you are not really that stable, it's good to also but a portable mobile phone tripod.
EDGE DISTORTION
As you can see from its name, it only happens at the Edge of the image. So just try to aim your subject in the middle of your shot and refrain it touching the Edge and you will not see the Distortion so obviously. It's also good to not leave lines subject to the edge of the image.
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Coming back to the topic, ReadyZoom Lens is simply good for lightweight Zoomings.
This was a random day when I saw my home toilet appearing a few random insects, so I just made them as my simple example for you guys.
And again, the top photo shows Photo by my Iphone 6 without any attachment. The bottom left image is at the same distance of the top photo. Because of space constrained, I moved about 100mm nearer to the insect that is on the bottom right image. As you can see, the Moth is sharper than the other insect. Simply because of the distance made was at it's infinite sharpest point.
This is another example of the Focal Distance, so please keep that distance away while you are using ReadyZoom Lens. There's a focus ring in the front, which you can set the sharpness of your image. 1000mm / 1m is the nearest we can go for ReadyZoom Lens at its sharpest point. It works pretty much like a Zoom Prime Lens. It's a fixed distance for Zoom, which is 12x officially.
To sum things up, "ReadyZoom Telescopic Zoom Lens : 12x Optical Zoom Clip-On Telescope Zoom Lens For Smartphone" is a good and light-weight Mobile phone lens which is very much portable and convenient. But don't get ripped off, I saw some similar Lenses with about the same features selling for $70-80 in the Flea Market.
ThatMobileShop.com is selling at just $23USD, and they're giving me the privilege of getting you some discounts. Use this Coupon to get your 30% Off Now! Valid Till 30th June 2017 Only!
FYI, above Pictures are all taken by iPhone 6 / 7.
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