Happy Friday everyone!
The other day I finally made the decision to order some lenses for my iPhone 6 from Moment Lens. Moment touts itself as a professional-grade lens manufacturer, and the reviews I read were positive. They arrived yesterday and I wanted to tell you a quick review of the Moment Lens lenses.
(disclaimer: this is not a paid or endorsed post. I paid full price for these lenses and this review hasn’t been approved or anything similar by Moment, Inc.)
In case you’re tired of reading already, I made a video of the unboxing and some initial image samples as well.
18mm Wide Lens
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- Front view
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- Side view
The Wide Lens is the reason I became interested in the Moment line of lenses in the first place. I like the iPhone’s camera but, being primarily a landscape and cityscape photographer, I always wish things were a bit wider. It’s especially great for shots of people because you can get more of the environment into the shot. Here’s what it looks like when attached to the Moment Case for the iPhone 6.
There’s very little distortion and no chromatic aberration in the pictures I’ve seen so far. I put my iPhone on a tripod mount and took a picture without a lens and with the Wide Lens so you can see the difference.
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- Without Wide Lens
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- With Wide Lens
60mm Telephoto Lens
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- Front view
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- Side View
I LOVE the telephoto lens more than I thought I would. Here’s why: the iPhone 6 has an 8 megapixel camera. What that means is the camera takes an image with 8 million pixels in it. If you ever zoom into an image with your camera, what you’re doing is cropping the image, so taking 8 million pixels and reducing the image to 4 million pixels by “zooming in”. You’ll see something up close, sure, but it’s not as high-quality of an image.
The telephoto lens zooms for you and your image still has 8 million pixels. I imagine that was horribly confusing, but here are some images that say the same thing.
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- Without lens
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- With Telephoto lens
25mm (10x) Macro Lens
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- Front view
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- Side view (with diffuser)
This is an interesting one that I’m honestly still on the fence about. Imagine putting a massive magnifying glass on your lens and that’s what this lens does. Now, on my Sony a7rII I have a 90mm Macro lens that I can also use as a portrait lens. This is not the same. You have to be close to your subject for this lens to focus properly. And when I mean close, I mean REALLY CLOSE. Like the subject needs to almost be touching the diffuser close. It’s a bit hard to focus, but man when you do the detail is fantastic!
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- Without lens, putting the camera as close as possible to the subject
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- With Macro Lens
Initial impressions
I’m impressed with the build quality of the Moment lenses. The lenses have a professional feel and a sort of “density” that exudes quality and craftsmanship. They will take a bit of getting used to, but I’m looking forward to using these in a real world environment instead of tripod shots of random bottles of whisky in my condo.
Actually, I’m heading out to Denmark tomorrow, and I’ll be taking my lenses with me, so stay tuned for a real world review!
For more information, check out Moment Lens at: www.momentlens.co
Great review of these Moments lens! Been trying your “real world review” with these lens, have you posted any pictures from these lens since this post? Thanks!
I haven’t but it’s coming! I was toying with the idea of getting a new iPhone and was waiting until that decision was made.
Gotcha, thanks for the quick reply. I’ve been debating on whether or not to get these lens, so I can’t wait to see your photos!
I recently purchased the lenses but am pretty disappointed in the macro. I hate that the diffuser needs to be touching to get anything into decent focus. There needs to be a bit more focusing distance for this lens because touching what one wants to photograph means that it can cause the subject to move. Makes for less than satisfactory macro photos.
I agree with you. Im going to do a follow up post about it soon
I will look forward to reading your review and it is good to know that I am not the only one. I have looked every place for feedback or better instruction on the use of this lens and have found little other than your post. I purchased the macro based on the excellent reviews for the other lenses figuring it should be a good one but it doesn’t measure up to the others IMO. I have also had problems with the case. The shutter button has stopped working even though the app is installed and the case is connected. I have written to them several times and thus far all I have received in the way of instruction is to get the app connected. I am going to write again to let them know that the shutter is definitely not working. Hopefully once we are past the holiday season and they are back at work I can get this resolved. I did get it working for a short while but to actually take a photo required a fairly strong push on the shutter button causing some movement no matter how careful and steady I tried to be. Now nothing. I had difficult with the original installation had to completely reinstall the case, beginning with pulling the battery and reinserting it 3 times before I finally got it working. I am beginning to think there could be a problem with the case.
Follow up on the macro lens. The diffuser can be removed. It has to be done carefully but it will pop off. I have had more success using the lens without the diffuser and have finally had some shots that I was pleased with.
That’s good to know! I’ve played around with the macro a bit more and think it’ll actually be excellent for things like bugs and whatnot. I’ll try removing the diffuser.
Great review. How did you like the case angle of it?
The case worked very well! I’m just not a case guy, so it’s currently sitting unused next to my computer.
Hi Andy! I was just reading your review on the Moment lenses and wanted your opinion — I’m going to Europe and I’m going to buy either the Moment Wide lense or the Tele lense (ideally I’d get both but I’m only focusing on one lense for right now). Which would you recommend for the trip? I’m really not sure what I’ll be photographing, probably everything! Thanks, love your blog 🙂
Hi Heather! I’d recommend the Wide lens, I find myself using it the most out of the three I have. Have fun in Europe!
Hey Andy, did you ever do a follow up post? I can’t find it anywhere. Cheers!
Howard, I’ve never done a follow up post, sadly I haven’t been able to use the lenses that often, which sounds crazy since I’ve traveled so much but I simply am in the habit of using my bigger camera. Hopefully I’ll be able to do the follow up post soon!
I received my macro today and am totally disappointed. I like the fact that Moments App allows for Tiff, but find it odd that this option’s not available when shooting with the timer option concurrently. Both of these options would suit the macro lens perfectly when mounted on a tripod. The App also doesn’t allow for a remote, so no matter what one is forced to touch the phone and possibly cause shake. Shake with a macro makes it useless.
I also got their lens caps to protect the macro lens. The caps do not fit the macro and this little detail isn’t mentioned on their site. The macro is the only lens I was interested in and now have caps with no use, oh that’s right I now own $10 magnets.
Sure the lens seems well made, but way to many limitations to truly useful.
I agree with most of your sentiments. I think part of the appeal of the Wide lens is I find myself wanting to use it as part of my day-to-day picture taking with my phone. With the Macro though it’s almost like I need to figure out what to use it for. I really wish there was a timer option too! I have a mefoto iphone tripod holder and it’d be perfect to use with a timer.
I don’t have any of the lens caps yet but appreciate the tip about it for the macro lens.
After writing to Moment I heard back today. The caps do fit after all, but you have to pull the diffuser off. I did this and of course smeared my thumb dead center onto the front glass, but cleaned up easily enough. Now I wish there was a rear cap available.
I also pointed out my other concerns. They gave me a few tips and pointed me to the following write-up.
http://momentlens.co/momentist/2015/11/25/macro-photography-mobile-phone/
I just received a Monoshot tripod with remote for my iPhone set up and played with it a bit today. I of course discovered there is no way to use the remote with the Moment app so I switched to Pure camera app which actually has more ways to make adjustments. Can even shoot in raw if that is one’s choice. The macro shooting even with the tripod is a bit fussy but I think I prefer using the Pure app with the macro lens over the Moment app. Hopefully with time Moment will be making some additional improvements to the app. Not having a lens cap is a bummer but I suppose they consider the diffuser protection enough if the lens is stored in the bag. That is all I am using the diffuser for. I want to like the shutter button on the case but am not crazy about it, for macro it is really useless.
I’ll check out the Pure Camera app, especially if it’s saying it’ll shoot in raw, I didn’t think that was a possibility.
The Pure app calls it dRaw – Tiff. It produces pretty large files but I don’t keep a lot of photos on the phone. Download all of the ones I want to keep to an external drive so I don’t have a storage problem on my phone. Might not work as well for others who prefer to keep lots of photos on their phone.
Roberta, is the remote you’re referring to the small bluetooth one?
Also, is the App called PureShot?
Hi Tony,
Yes, it is a small bluetooth type, it came with the tripod. I really like it a lot. I just checked in my apps on iTunes on my laptop and it is called PureShot. On my phone it just shows as Pure so I didn’t remember the full name. There is another camera app that is similar but even more dSLR like it is called 645 Pro. I like PureShot pretty well though.
Hey Andy I am trying to decide with lens to purchase between the wide and the telephoto. I plan on taking lots of selfies, products pics (blogger style), Instagram post, ect. Please help. I’m not a photographer I just have a online clothing store and need quality pics. Thanks for your time.
Brittney, I’d go with the wide lens
Hey Brittney, would you please share your experience, I’m considering buying it as a gift for a friend and I want to know if it was useful for you.
I a considering buying this as a gift for my son who is moving to CA… Now I’m not sure… Please help me decide if this is the best lense for him or I should look elsewhere…
Thanks!!
I believe the Moment lenses are the best lenses available on the market at this time.
Have you tried the app Fusion HDR on your iPhone. It does wonders for the dynamic range of the iPhone imager. My guess it would significantly improve the images made with any of the moment lenses. Lastly, have you tried copying slides with the Moment macro lens? Works great with Nikon camera add macro lens. Hope to be able to copy slides with an iPhone and a macro. Thiughts? Thanks
I will take a look at Fusion HDR, thanks for the rec! I haven’t tried slide copying with the macro, just not enough megapixels for me
Thanks for your review Andy! Can you comment on the edge sharpness with these lenses – especially the 60mm? Many add-on lenses create smearing of detail at the edges – even when they are sharp in the center of the shot.
Any help would be great.
Thanks!
Hi Phil, I’ve lent the lenses to a friend of mine, I’ll see if she can comment.
R, did you get a reply from Moment about your faulty case? I’m also having a problem with mine. It worked for only a month. I’ve tried deleting and reinstalling the app, and changing the battery but nothing seems to work
I bought the Moment 18 wide angle lens for I-Phone 6s and I can see the edges of the lens in the photos. Did you get this issue? I don’t see it in your photos. Wondering if I installed it wrong? Defeats the purpose of a wide angle lens if I have to manually edit out the edges of the photo to remove the porthole effect created by the black wavy edges of the lens. Thx, Andy.
I didn’t have the same issue, I think it might be related to the 6s’s bigger sensor. I’d reach out to Moment, you may need a different lens or casing.
I own a 6s Plus and do not have the problem. If you are using the mounting plate and not their case – make sure it is carefully centered around the lens. Also make sure you rotate the lens until you feel it lock in place.
I suppose it’s possible you have a bad lens – but make sure the problem is not in the mounting of the lens.
Have had the same experience with the end lens cap, they don’t have it and no plans to make one. The work around for me is a 1/4 in. rubber screw protector, it’s made to protects the end of bolt threads from getting damaged and prevent someone from getting cut by it. They can be found at Home Depot or a good hardware store in the bins for specialty items in the bolt section. Just cut some of the screw protector off to get the length that works for you. Not perfect but protects the rear element from dust etc.
Great idea and a perfect fit!
Thanks!
I got the Moment macro and tele lenses and they are by far the worse piece of tripe I have run across in decades. The lenses do nothing. I get 100% better use from my smartphone zoom and my kids’ cracker-jack plastic magnifying glass.
Just to be clear. I just paid for them and lost $200 in this scam AND I read this article as well as others before deciding to purchase this garbage. I guess you folks here don’t care about credibility.
Oscar, I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy your lenses. I found the quality to be remarkably different from my regular phone camera, particularly the tele lens.
I’m with you Oscar. I got mine a year ago and unless I have the lens literally touching the object I’m shooting it’s useless. I’ve been shooting since the 80’s, including macro and have never run across a macro lens that’s this limited. When I first bought the lens and brought up the issues with them they basically blamed me and shrugged their shoulders. They offered me nothing as far as a refund or swap towards something else. Although I like the case I will not waist my money on, or recommend a Moment product again.
I was wondering what if I zoom in while using the wide lens, would I still have a clear shot?