One of the downsides of the iPhone camera is that it is a fixed length lens. There’s no optical zoom – instead, you have to crop on your iPhone or PC/Mac for a zoom effect or use a digital zoom application such as Camera Zoom, with the typical problem of a digital zoom that its use results in degraded image quality.

We recently found some optical lenses for the iPhone, by a company called USBfever. They graciously provided us with a sample of their 2x Tele Zoom. Here are my thoughts about it:

Attaching the lens
It is very simple to “mount” the lens on the iPhone. It comes with two small magnetic rings with self-adhesive tape. Simply glue one of them around the lens of your iPhone and then “snap” the lens (actually, any of their lenses) on the iPhone. The magnet does a good job holding the lens in place. To unmount, pull off the lens, attach the lens cap and bottom. Done!

Using the lens
The lens is made of sturdy aluminum and since it is attached through a magnet, you can slide the lens around on the magnet for optimal coverage. One issue: Since it is round, it heavily vignettes (see screen shot below). There is no way to avoid this – I guess it would have been possible to construct optics to avoid vignetting, but that typically includes multiple lens elements and drives up the cost and weight of the lens. Vignetting can simply be cropped in post processing.

Vignetting very visible with 2x Tele lens

Optical Quality
The quality of the optics is surprisingly good given the low cost of the lens. I did not see any quality degradation. On the contrary, as the comparison image below exemplifies, there’s a lot more detail visible in the 100% crop from the image shot with the 2x telephoto than is in the regular image.

100% crops: The tele lens brings out the details nicely

Cleaning
The lens is small, but can be cleaned easily with swabs or your favorite lens cleaning solution. Personally, I use a LensPen, which works just fine on this lens.

Personally, I prefer optical zooms over digital zooms at any time of the day due to better quality pictures even if it means I have to deal with vignetting. Thus, since the lens is very small and light-weight, I started to carry it around with me in my bag. So far, I’ve used it quite frequently, since it’s so quick and easy to attach it to my iPhone and since I like the quality of the photos that I shot with it.

Verdict: Highly recommended

In addition to the 2x telephoto, USBfever also offers a fish-eye, a 5x tele and a wide-angle lens for the iPhone.

Weight: 6.6 grams, including lens cap and strap

Price: $16.99, directly from USBfever

Do you process all of your images on a Mac? Getting ready to buy one of the newest Mac desktops or notebooks, but are turned off due to the lack of a Firewire 400 port? Do not despair.

Let’s face it – Firewire 400 support is coming to an end. But Apple continues to put Firewire 800 connectors into its machines. How to then use your Firewire 400 devices? Through inexpensive cables or adaptors. Firewire 800 is backward-compatible with all Firewire 400 peripherals, so just plug a Firewire 400 peripheral into an adaptor and connect that to your Mac.

Some solutions:
Sonnettech sells a Firewire 400 to 800 adaptor (see image) for around $15.
Wiebetech sells a 3ft adaptor cable, called the 7380-0000-11, for $11.
Monoprice.com sells adaptors and cables that convert Firewire 400 to either Firewire 800 or USB.

One of the least expensive adaptor solutions, so you do not have to deal with messy cables, is SIIG’s Firewire 400 to 800 adaptor. $12, Amazon: $7.40

Billingham recently released their PhotoVest in an updated version. I wore one of them on a recent photoshoot – here are my impressions:

Good:

Pockets Galore: In fact, it will take you a few trips to figure out where to put what into one of 16 pockets this vest has and then to find the item quickly when you need it. But it is great to have so many pockets and I stored a huge load of gear in the vest without any problems at all.
Padded Collar: Often, the weight of all your gear pulls the vest down in the front, thus pressing the vest’s collar into your neck. Nothing you can do about it, but the Billingham collar is nicely soft-padded, thus no rubbing you raw in the neck. In fact, I did not notice any pressure in the neck, which is a good sign to me.
Comfortable wear: Initially, I wore the vest over 3 layers of shirts and sweaters. Later, I took on the layers off and tied it around my waist under the vest. No impact on the wear of this vest. It felt well balanced and “comfy”.
Short size: It’s shorter than most vests, which allows you to sit comfortably in a car with a lot of gear on your body. With longer vests, they get pushed up and are bunched around you. Not with the Billingham. Yet, its reduced length still allows you to carry long lenses.
Water-repellant, easy-to-clean outer material: Despite walking alongside a waterfall and getting even splashed on by a big dog coming out of a pool, water did not make it through the outer lining of the vest. I simply let it dry after using and then brushed off some of the dirt from the dog. Done.

Bad:

The price is high, but then, would you put $2000 worth of camera gear on a $60 tripod? With vests as with tripods, you get what you pay.
It feels thick, thus I assume that this is no summer vest, despite its vents in the back. More about that once I’ll wear it during summer excursions.

Verdict: Highly recommended!

Price: $398.00, Amazon: $279.95

One advantage of digital point & shoots with swivel LCDs over regular DSLRs is that you can take great shots with the camera down at your feet. Just swivel the LCD up and start shooting!

Now you can do the same by attaching a right angle viewer to your DSLR’s optical viewfinder. Hoodman is one of the manufacturers who have marketed right angle viewers for a ling time. Its H-RAV includes a built in diopter with 1X and 2X capbility, full 360 degree rotation and universal mounting attachments for many Digial SLR cameras. A storage case is included. Try it out – it opens new perspectives to you!

Price: $129.99, Amazon: $109.00

Joby, maker of the Gorillapod line, announced at PMA today that they lowered the price on their top of the line Gorillapod GP8 (Gorillapod Focus) today. While as goofy-looking as the other Gorillapods and only weighting a bit more than 1 pound, this gadget can hold up to 11 pounds of gear, which means you can mount a DSLR with a heavy telephoto attached to it. Machined aluminum sockets offer flexibility while ensuring a rock-solid hold in almost any environment. Wrap it around a railing, hang it from a tree, or stand it on a table in the studio… the Gorillapod makes an excellent travel companion, so you can leave your tripod at home. We can’t wait to get ours!

Price now $109.95, Amazon: under $100

Here’s one that you should always have in your Bag! The Bottle-top Pod, made by Adorama, is a simple holder screw that’s attached to a bottle top. Simply take a soda bottle, water bottle or any other bottle, screw the bottle top pod on and you have an instant tripod. For added stability, fill the bottle with water or, better yet, wet sand.

Price: $9.95, Amazon: $7.99

Billingham released an update to its popular PhotoVest, the first in about 10 years. It’s hand-crafted from from textured multi-filament Cordura 500 to allow for years of rugged use. It is vented for comfort with mesh panels in the back to increase air-flow, thus keeping you cool. The plastic coil zip is covered with narrow flaps of material to help prevent rear screen abrasion, plus many more features. As with many of these vests, it features a huge amount of pockets including a massive pocket for long lenses, umbrellas or even a tripod. The vest is designed to be worn underneath of your weather jacket.

Price: $398.00, Amazon: $279.95

Every camera comes with a strap — why would you ever need a different one?

Just put your regular camera strap over your shoulder when you wear one of these micro-fiber jackets — it’ll slip constantly and you’ll be adjusting your camera position all the time. But there’s a solution: The Upstrap. It works so much better than your regular camera strap: its surfaces does not slip and provides lots of stability; it’s made from very flexible materials; and none has ever deformed or ripped no matter what I did to it.

That’s why the strap that comes with a new camera never even gets unwrapped. As soon as I order a camera, I also order the Upstrap.

Highly recommended!

Price: $32.00

Breeze System’s Downloader Pro does only one thing, but it does it extremely well: Downloading your images to your PC. Whether running multiple download sessions in parallel, converting RAW images to DNG (Digital Negative Format), renaming all images, adding metadata or creating backups during downloads, Downloader Pro delivers — fast and prodictably! Initial setup takes a bit, but once done, importing images is a snap. We have been using it for years and miss it dearly ever since we converted to our Mac, since all of Breeze’s software is Windows only.

Highly recommended!

Price: $29.95

Lenpens have been around for a while and we have been carrying them in our bags for years. It’s a very simple way to clean your lenses — use the retractable brush to brush off dust or use the non-liquid cleaning tip to clean smudges from your lenses. Easy, reliable and fast – it’s a non-brainer to have it in your bag!

Price: $14.95, Amazon: $8.49