The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus cameras comfortably rank as two of the best in the smartphone industry, according to analysts - as well as Forbes’ review team. But they’re limited if you want to consider doing something out of the ordinary - say, for example, printing out your favourite pictures immediately.
Of course, no one expects
One area that startups are keen to add to is the iPhone’s camera, with endless accessories hitting the market and popping-up on crowdfunding sites. Some are excellent, some not so excellent. Some are innovative, some are tacky accessory tat. The list below, fortunately, is all about the former and not the latter. Here I’ve rounded up some of my favourite innovative tech projects and accessories for the iPhone 6’s camera.
READ: The Top 5 iPhone 6 Accessories And Cases
CAMpanion - $20
In essence CAMpanion acts as a GoPro mount for your iPhone 6 (and any other smartphone). You attach it to the back of your handset and then slide the GoPro on to it. It’s incredibly simple, but it adds a surprising amount of extra functionality. One of the main USPs of the GoPro is its ability to be mounted anywhere, whether that be on a bike or on your body. But for general day-to-day use, it’s a bit awkward to hold and you can’t see what you’re filming - even with the small viewfinder attachment.
CAMpanion solves this by attaching the GoPro to your iPhone. From here you can use the iPhone as a viewfinder for the camera via the GoPro app, which makes it easier to hold. You can also utilise the iPhone flash for night-time filming and the GoPro will even act as a stand for the phone when placed on a flat surface.
Prynt - $49.95 (for the early adopters)
READ: The Top 5 Super Robust Cases For Your iPhone 6
Kickstarter project, Prynt, is bringing back physical pictures in the form of a polaroid-like printer that dispenses snaps from your iPhone. It’s attached to the back of your iPhone 5S, 5C or iPhone 6 (and the Samsung S4 and S5) and prints out your recent pictures on the spot. There’s a very rewarding nostalgic value to seeing your pictures in printed form immediately after they’ve been snapped in 2015, which makes it all the more interesting.
The device will set you back $49.95 for the early bird special and $100 thereafter. Of course, you’ll have to buy paper for the printer too, but you won’t have to buy any ink because Prynt uses Zink paper that already has ink embedded.
SNAP! 6 - $50
The SNAP! 6 case, aside from having an unnecessarily in-your-face name, adds some basic but much needed functionality to your iPhone 6 - a dedicated shutter button. Other devices like the Xperia Z3 have benefitted from a shutter button that makes taking pictures simpler, faster, and one-handed. And now the iPhone 6 can join in on the fun.
The case also has some interesting clip-on attachments, including a wide-angle lens, macro lens and a CPL filter that removes reflections. These can all be attached and removed easily, with the only downside being that you have to carry around several different pieces of kit if you ever decide to switch lens when on the move.
READ: Better Battery Life And Faster Charging: 11 Tricks For The iPhone 6
The 4-in-1 Olloclip is a long-standing and popular iPhone accessory that works in a similar - but simpler - way to the SNAP! 6 case. Where the SNAP! 6 is an entire case that encompasses your iPhone, the Olloclip is just that, a clip. It sits over the right-shoulder of the iPhone 6 and covers the protruding camera.
One of the main drawbacks of a smartphone camera is the digital zoom and the grainy pictures they produce, the Olloclip solves this with a 10x and 15x macro zoom, as well as fisheye and wide-angle lenses. The 4-in-1 clip can be flipped over to change lens without having to swap out (and carry around) additional accessories.
Nova - $65
Nova is a small bluetooth LED flash for the iPhone 6. It houses 40 low-light LEDs behind a soft diffuser, which is controlled by the Nova app. This means that your lighting won’t look as flashy, or be as harsh, in low-light situations. It also has four presets to get the lighting right for the right situation, including; gentle, warm, neutral and bright. Users can also manually set the brightness and colour tones.
It has the added bonus of being slightly thicker than a credit card, so it can fit in your wallet.
