Best Smartphone iPhone Camera Lenses for 2020

Thinking of upgrading your smartphone or iPhone to get those extra lenses? Instead you can simply add a conversion lens to your existing device. But even with a smartphone with multiple lenses, you can still add even more options with a 1 or more conversion lenses.

What is a conversion lens?

A conversion lens literally “converts” your existing lens into a different type of lens. Usually this will be a wider lens, a macro lens or a telephoto lens. The conversion lens sits on top of your existing lens so light passes through both lenses before hitting the sensor.

Look Out For…

Ideally, your conversion lens will not degrade the image. Unfortunately, cheaper lenses can often add defects to the image. Here’s a few possible downsides:

Loss of light. Less light reaches the sensor. While this is fine in bright, daylight. In lower light conditions, you will have a darker image.

Less light reaches the sensor. While this is fine in bright, daylight. In lower light conditions, you will have a darker image. Vignetting. If the lens doesn’t fit too perfectly over the lens being converted, you might find shadows are created at the edge of the image.

If the lens doesn’t fit too perfectly over the lens being converted, you might find shadows are created at the edge of the image. Chromatic aberration. Poor glass quality refracts the light (usually at the edges) splitting white light into a rainbow of colours.

While all conversion lenses result in at least a slight loss of brightness, the other issues can be resolved by cropping the image to remove vignetting or aberrations.

Mounting

All conversion lenses need mounting to your smartphone, somehow. This causes an extra complication depending on device and mounting method. A lot of lenses come with a dedicated clip or case. While a clip (see below) is usually universal, a case will be designed to fit your specific smartphone.

Moondog Labs Anamorphic

I use a Moondog Labs anamorphic conversion lens when shooting video for my SciFi series Silent Eye. The results are very impressive, but bear in mind this isn’t the cheapest lens. It’s also quite a specialist lens, mainly used for shooting widescreen (1.33x) cinematic video.

Here’s a screengrab from our latest episode, shot using a Samsung S9 + Moondog Labs anamorphic. The image is slightly cropped and also compressed down from 2K. This shot has come out nice and moody, with a subtle lens flare from the light in the middle – characteristic of anamorphic lenses.

Moondog Labs Official Site

What if I only had $30 to spend?

For those on a budget (or simply less concerned about lens quality), these are our picks for a wide & macro combo kit. They all come with clips, so no costly extra mounting case. But will they work with your existing case in place? If that’s important to you, you might want to check before purchase.

Xenvo Pro Lens Kit

The Xenvo Pro Lens Kit has been out for a few years, but has been updated and improved over that time. It’s now one of the most useful and popular conversion lenses on the market. The kit allows you to add a wide angle and a macro option to your smartphone.

The simple clip mount allows the lans to be used with most smartphone and iPhone models. Unlike some of the competition, Xenvo wide-angle lenses correct unwanted lens distortion. In other words, straight lines come out straight in the photo. But overall, the quality is high but the price is very reasonable.

ANGFLY 2 in 1 Aspherical Wide Angle & Super Macro

The Angfly is another wide-marco combo conversion lens. Very well made with a simple clip-on design that fits most popular smartphones and tablets. The quality of the lens is high, with minimal image flaws and a solid build. Like the Xenvo, the Angfly removes barrel distortion so straight lines don’t come out curved.

When using the wide angle, look to the corners of the image and you might see some aberration. Often, this is down to incorrect placement, so it’s worth spending time getting it sitting perfectly. But for the price, this lens produces great quality.

Anazalea Wide & Macro Lens

Made using German Schott optical glass, the Anazalea lens again gives you both a wide and a macro option. Clip straight onto your smartphone and spend a little time adjusting to remove aberrations in the corners. The lens is well built, while lightweight and provides a generally clear image.

On the downside, the clip is perhaps a little over long compared to others. Then again, you get 2 clips in the convenient carry case, which is a nice extra. Meanwhile, the price is low enough to make this a fun accessory for your smartphone photography.

What if I’m in for some serious smartphone lens kit?

If you want to take your smartphone photography/cinematography a step further, at some extra cost you can acquire higher quality lenses.

Anamorphic lenses are especially exciting as there are currently no smartphones with these lenses inbuilt. So you’ll be getting something your iPhone 11 Pro user can’t, even with those extra lenses. While they’re usually considered a specialist lens for filmmakers, there’s no reason they can’t be used for widescreen photos too.

Moment Lens Range

Moving on from the entry-level conversion lenses… We can’t talk about smartphone conversion lenses without mentioning Moment lenses. Moment are perhaps the biggest brand of lens maker for smartphones on the market. They have achieved this making great lenses and a running a brilliant marketing campaign, using Kickstarter and YouTube.

When you buy into the Moment lens brand, you become part of a smartphone photo-taking & video-shooting family. Not only do they have a range of lenses, but they also produce one of the best 3rd party camera apps for photo and video manual control. While the lenses and app are indeed some of the best out there, they do come with a step up in price.

Rather than talk about individual lenses here, we have made a whole post dedicated to the Moment lens range.

Ulanzi Range

Like Moment, Ulanzi make a range of lenses for smartphones, as well as a wide range of smartphone photo and video accessories. But while Moment lenses need Moment cases to mount to your smartphone, Ulanzi provide well designed a clip alternative. They’re also considerably cheaper than Moment, including their phone-specific case mounts.

On the downside, Ulanzi’s customer support is not the best. And perhaps the reduced cost of the products is sometimes reflected in the quality. Having said, their do produce great lenses at roughly half the cost of Moment’s. But how do they compare for quality?

Here’s a still from a video shot using an Ulanzi anamorphic:

Looks pretty good. But take a look at the top right to see that smudgy chromatic aberration. Also, I’m no lens engineer so I don’t know if one anamorphic lens design can somehow create more flares than others. But for me, this still from later in the same video shows lens flare overkill.

But if lens flare is the thing you’re after, then this Ulanzi lens might be perfect for you. It’s also about a 3rd the price of the Moment anamorphic.

I’m specifically in the market for Telephoto lenses

When it comes to DSLRs, mirrorless or cinema grade cameras, a good telephoto lens is essential for getting that shallow depth of field we’re used to seeing these days. However, telephoto conversion lenses for smartphones don’t really provide this effect. But what they can give you is the ability to get closer to your subject without having to move so close.

If this is what you’re looking for, the Moment 58mm is our choice for best telephoto.

Well, those are our choices. Let us know in the comments if you have a favourite conversion lens for your smartphone. Or even you’ve bought a new multi-lens device and all your conversion lenses are now on eBay…

Check out our full smartphone filmmaking KIT LIST.

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