Nearly everybody’s taking smartphone footage with the identical focal size — however you’ll be able to change that.
Because the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge have been launched, I have been enamored by the official Samsung “camera lens case” that allows you to connect two high-quality digital camera lenses — one wide-angle, one telephoto — to the telephone for distinctive capturing prospects. Then Samsung simply did not launch the instances within the U.S., or just about any huge market around the globe. Being a self-proclaimed images nerd I simply had to attempt them, although.
So when the great individuals over at MobileFun provided to ship me a Galaxy S7 digital camera lens case for assessment, I took them up on it instantly. This is what I’ve discovered utilizing is odd-looking contraption for my photographic escapades.
A enjoyable new method to shoot
The essential start line right here is that this can be a package deal deal — in an effort to use the 2 lenses, it’s worthwhile to use the included case. Moderately than sticking or clamping onto the telephone like third-party options, you set a slick little silicone case on the telephone that features threads across the gap that exposes the telephone’s digital camera lens. You then merely screw the lens you need into the properly textured case, and also you’re up and operating — this ensures the lenses match completely onto the built-in digital camera lens, for distortion-free capturing.
Nicer metallic and glass than any third-party lens you will discover
Within the package deal you get a wide-angle lens and a telephoto lens. Samsung does not give particulars on the focal size, however my educated guess is the wide-angle lens sits at a few 18 mm equal, and the telephoto a 60 mm equal. The lenses are good bookend focal lengths for the Galaxy S7’s built-in lens to take a seat proper within the center, supplying you with a triumvirate of lens choices altogether.
Sure, that is very a lot the identical concept on supply in barely alternative ways in each the the LG V20 and iPhone 7 Plus, however the measurement and high quality of those secondary Samsung lenses is by no means matched by these tiny built-in models. Each lenses are extraordinarily well-made bits of metallic with good glass inside, and once they’re screwed into the case you get nearly as good a connection to the telephone’s digital camera lens as you’ll be able to anticipate. They’re sturdy, look good and keep put. The lenses have their very own plastic carrying case that stows the lenses locked along with lens caps on the top.
The wide-angle lens is the smaller of the 2, however nonetheless fairly huge. It is about twice the thickness of the Galaxy S7 itself. It is virtually sufficiently small to let me match the telephone with the lens hooked up in my entrance pants pocket comfortably, however its measurement meant I could not do this for lengthy. If I needed to decide to having the lens hooked up, that meant carrying the telephone in my hand whereas it was put collectively. The lens is sufficiently small as to not be conspicuous if you’re out taking photographs, although.
At a look it is not that giant, and it is even sufficiently small that you could set your telephone down on a desk with out it wanting bizarre. The telephone case additionally offers a small lip across the entrance of the telephone that is large enough to allow you to put the Galaxy S7 face-down on a desk, which certainly is to maintain you from counting on placing strain on the lens within the again.
Getting used to the constraint of the standard focal size of a telephone digital camera, I actually loved capturing with the wide-angle lens. With the lens hooked up you get an entire new look to your photographs, letting you match an enormous scene into one snap, quite than performing some kind of panorama shot. There’s simply sufficient of a fisheye impact right here that you simply see curves in lengthy straight strains, which is somewhat little bit of an indicator of such a large lens.
Our personal Jerry Hildenbrand (additionally a images nerd) famous that some software program tuning within the telephone to repair the distortion within the wide-angle photographs would have been good, however I personally fairly like the marginally distorted view. That little fisheye look provides it a singular feeling that clearly separates it from the view of the interior lens, and I used it to good impact in some particular photographs that basically accentuated the size and scope of all the things within the body.
For as massive because the wide-angle lens is, the telephoto lens instantly invokes visions of sports activities photographers on the sidelines with large lenses hanging off of their DSLRs. The Telephoto lens is roughly double the thickness of the wide-angle lens. It is large enough that you could set the Galaxy S7 on a desk in panorama mode and the lens props it up like a kickstand (perhaps a pleasant little backup function).
It is too massive to slot in your pocket, and it actually stands proud once you’re simply making an attempt to make use of the telephone “usually” whereas not taking pictures. When you can kinda get away with having the wide-angle lens on the telephone, the telephoto could be very a lot one thing you placed on, take some photographs, then take off the telephone for an additional time.
Whereas I am utterly smitten with the look from the wide-angle lens, the telephoto providing is a little more of a combined bag. The roughly 60 mm equal is drastically totally different from what you are used to capturing with a telephone’s digital camera, and it takes a little bit of getting used to. The mixture of such an extended focal size and nonetheless an f/1.7 lens behind it means you are going to see tons of defocusing of the foreground/background and vignetting across the edges of the scene in virtually each shot.
Should you mess around with it for some time you need to use the options of the lens for actually distinctive photographs you do not get anyplace else on a smartphone, at the least not with out artificial software program blurring of photographs. However in contrast to the wide-angle lens, this telephoto lens is not so “level and shoot” prepared. There have been quite a bit of pictures I took with the telephoto lens that have been simply dangerous and I deleted — it undoubtedly took some finessing to get proper.
Truly utilizing the lenses commonly
I critically take pleasure in the brand new capturing choices and the good high quality of the pictures I get from these exterior lenses. The one actual concern right here is that the lenses themselves are horridly giant in relation to a skinny and compact telephone. The little carrying case for the lenses is as compact as it may be, and the telephone case is one I would not thoughts utilizing day-after-day — however the lenses are simply too huge to hold round regularly.
And even when I’ve my messenger bag or a backpack with me to hold the lenses, I am not precisely prepared to plant my ft, open up my bag, take out and connect a lens simply to take a photograph or two earlier than returning the lens to its case. It is an excessive amount of friction for me, and in my case it takes longer than merely pulling out the Olympus OM-D E-M5 that is in my bag and taking a far superior photograph.
Well worth the cash?
So taking that each one into consideration, let’s speak worth and worth. Although the MSRP is a bit greater, retailers have the Galaxy S7 camera lens case on sale for about $110; that will get you the case and each lenses. (It is also obtainable for the Galaxy S7 edge, by the best way.)
In terms of add-on digital camera lenses for telephones, it must be stated I am not the most important fan general. Having standalone separate lenses that it’s a must to carry round and connect type of defeats the aim of getting an ideal compact digital camera in your pocket you could pull out and snap an image immediately. However should you’re somebody who’s going to think about shopping for an exterior lens answer for the Galaxy S7, this official case is the solely option to do it. No fussy clips, no low-quality elements — only a system that is designed particularly for the telephone, that lets you take nice pictures which you could’t get another means.
Whether or not or not that is value $110 to you is one other query that you will have to reply for your self. The case you are required to make use of for this setup is sort of good, and factoring that in might convey down the efficient worth for you… however that is nonetheless an enormous ask for one thing that you could be find yourself discovering is not one thing you will use commonly sufficient to justify proudly owning. True images nerds might get in on it, however common Galaxy S7 house owners will doubtless stick to their built-in lens.