Olloclip boosts the iPhone X's camera with its lens system
The company has retooled its dual-lens Connect mount for Apple's premium phone.
- More than two decades experience writing about PCs and accessories, and 15 years writing about cameras of all kinds.
Apple's iPhone X already has a great camera, but if it's your only camera maybe you'd like a little more shooting flexibility. And that's where Olloclip comes in.
The company, which has been developing iPhone camera lenses since 2011, is back with a new dual-lens Connect X mount designed specifically for the iPhone X. The mount allows you to use add-on lenses with either the front or the rear cameras. You no longer have to flip it around like you did with older models. Instead you just clip on the mount and then swap out the individual lenses with a simple push-button mechanism.
The new mount is a little bulkier than the previous model, and with good reason. It can now expand to more easily attach to your iPhone and even accommodate screen protectors. (It won't work with any cases except the company's own $30 option.) The expanding design also lets you quickly take it on and off the included carrying clip, which itself doubles as a phone stand.
Despite being one of the best known names in the category, Olloclip is a little late to the market with its iPhone X lens kit. Moment, Bitplay, Ztylus and Sandmarc all have kits available for the iPhone X and the ShiftCam 2.0 is getting set to ship this month after a successful Kickstarter campaign. However, Olloclip does offer one of the largest selections of lenses for its mount:
- Super-wide that ups the field-of-view to more than 120 degrees
- Ultra-wide with a 155-degree field-of-view similar to an action cam
- Fisheye and 15x macro
- Telephoto
- 14x and 7x macro
- 21x macro
If you're not sure what to get, Olloclip put together a box set with the dual-lens mount, the super-wide lens and the fisheye and 15x macro lens for $100. You can also pick up a single lens with the new Connect X mount for $60 to $80. From there you can buy individual lenses for $50 to $70 each.
Olloclip also announced a more affordable single-lens Connect mount for the iPhone 7/8 or 7/8 Plus that can be used with its interchangeable lenses. Only using one lens means you'll have to flip the mount depending on which camera you'd like to use. Prices for the single-lens mount will be $60 to $80.