Review: Hands-On With Olloclip's Telephoto + Ultra Wide-Angle Active Lens and Ollocase

[MacRumors]

iPhone camera accessory maker Olloclip has been producing lenses for the iPhone 6 since shortly after the phone debuted last year, but the company recently improved its product lineup with the addition new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus cases and a new Active Lens, which combines an ultra wide-angle lens with a telephoto lens.

Olloclip's iPhone photography accessories are some of the most popular on the market because of their quality and ease of use, and the company's two newest products are a welcome addition to the product lineup. The iPhone 6 Ollocase works perfectly with Olloclip lenses and the Active Lens is one of Olloclip's most versatile lenses, useful for landscapes, selfies, portraits, and shots where you need to get just a bit closer to your subject.

Ollocase

Olloclip's lenses don't work with iPhone cases because of the way the lenses fit over the top of the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, leading Olloclip to create the Ollocase, a specialized case that does accommodate its lineup of camera lenses.

Olloclip first ventured into case making with the iPhone 5s, producing a two-piece plastic case that was bulky and overly complicated, but their new case for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus is much, much improved, and it's clear that a lot of thought went into the design.

It's constructed from a thin polycarbonate shell that adds little bulk to the iPhone, and around the sides, it has a rubber bumper. The rubber bumper protects from minor drops and extends a bit past the display, keeping it from touching a table or desk when it's face down. As a bonus, the flexibility also makes it easy to put on and take off if you like to swap cases often.


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Article Link: Review: Hands-On With Olloclip's Telephoto + Ultra Wide-Angle Active Lens and Ollocase

 

[2457282]

I have always been intrigued by these products. My biggest concern has always been that they may not fit the next phone I buy. After much deliberation, I came to the conclusion that buying a separate camera made more sense. The iPhone is great and certainly at this point is better than any instant camera from past that I have owned. But it is still not (and probably cannot ever be) as good as an SLR. I don't need the SLR often and usually am perfectly happy with the iPhone camera, but when I need more, I prefer to lug a real camera around instead of one of these attachments. Especially if there is a risk that they are only good for a year (how often I switch phones).

 

[Benjamin Frost]

I like these reviews from MacRumors. They are well-written, informative and fair.

I would like it if scores were awarded out of ten. I would also like to see reviews of software.

 

[happydude]

But do you receive compensation for click throughs or a percentage of purchases linked from here. Were you given a unit for free based off condition to write a review. Just because they didn't compensate you for the review doesn't mean you're not being influenced by other potential factors. Would like clarification on if your reviews are completely and totally independent from the manufacturer and/or product you're reviewing.

 

[MetalHaze]

Who thought it would be a good idea to NOT post the full resolution images for this photo test? This article is worthless. Who doesn't know what a wide angle lens does? We need images so we can inspect quality. I highly suggest editing the article to include links to the full-res shots

 

[OllyW]

But do you receive compensation for click throughs or a percentage of purchases linked from here. Were you given a unit for free based off condition to write a review. Just because they didn't compensate you for the review doesn't mean you're not being influenced by other potential factors. Would like clarification on if your reviews are completely and totally independent from the manufacturer and/or product you're reviewing.

This post from one of the editors (quoted below) in another thread makes it clear these reviews are not sponsored in any way and tells you how to express any concerns you have about the transparency of MacRumors reviews. These comments should not be posted in the review thread.

For awhile I had been adding a line at the end of each review that specifically said we received no compensation, but I thought we might be beyond those types of comments after several months. Apparently not. I've added the disclaimer to this post and will do so going forward.

David, this is not a sponsored endorsement. Sounding like a broken record here, but we do not do paid or sponsored posts or reviews.

Edit: Also, in the future, please feel free to email us with your concerns about a post (tips@macrumors.com or juli@macrumors.com) or post in the Site and Forum Feedback section of the forums. This discussion belongs there.

 

[jclo]

Who thought it would be a good idea to NOT post the full resolution images for this photo test? This article is worthless. Who doesn't know what a wide angle lens does? We need images so we can inspect quality. I highly suggest editing the article to include links to the full-res shots

Happy to share full resolution images, and in future posts like this, I'll make sure I share full res images. Appreciate the feedback. I wanted to focus on showing the distortion and did include a 100% crop, but you're right that it's not enough from the wide-angle lens.

I've uploaded images I took with both lenses to two albums. Let me know if you (or anyone) would like to see more.

Telephoto: http://imgur.com/a/x0Sm8

Ultra wide-angle: http://imgur.com/a/yvmoZ

 

[teslo]

i'll just chime in to support olloclip, and (objectively of course) i'm glad they get featured at MR. i use them all the time knowing i'm not out there to get DSLR quality images, and think they're among the greatest device accessories i've purchased. including the bose mini-soundlink, iStabilizer tripod/dolly, and others - these make me feel like i'm actually living in the future.

i'm not looking forward to the day when an entire generation of adults (and their kids) are alive not having known the 90s, 80s, 70s, etc - not knowing what kind of inconveniences and entirely new industries modern tech has solved/brought forth. the things i own now (and carry in a 2" thick shoulder bag) would have taken a U-Haul and my life savings to collect a couple decades ago.

cheers to MR for usually recommending things that aren't total BS like other sites and their sponsored articles.

 

[otrebmu]

Does the 2X telephoto lens work with the "Pano" feature on the iPhone camera and, if so, how well?