Iphone: camera vs cost.

[lordofshanghai]

D

Do post your experience here after getting it

Saw this review on reddit, not sure if its going to help
:


Personally I've found lenses from these 3 are pretty comparible; if you get a telephoto from moment it's not going to be drastically different than the telephoto from shiftcam. I haven't compared them side-by-side though so it's anecdotal at this point. I'll focus on the companies themselves and their offerings.

Moment Lenses: I don't know for sure but these are probably the most popular. Different companies have cages that fit the m-series of these lenses (Smallrig, Beastgrip, PolarPro, etc) and I have no doubt they'll support the t-series lenses soon enough. Moment also have a Gold-flare anamorphic which sandmarc and shiftcam don't have. I also appreciate the Moment is pretty transparent if a certain lenses works or doesn't work with a particular phone which is nice. Their filter support is really nice too; almost all of the lenses will fit standard 67mm filters which means you can use regular camera filters on your mobile lenses. It might be overkill at that point but whatever. This ecosystem is *missing* a long range macro which is my personal favorite lens and both sandmarc and shiftcam make one. The company seems solid and they have people that'll interact with you here on reddit which is a bonus. They seem focused on photography as a whole so sometimes they're focused on mobile lenses and other times they're focused on screw-on anamorphic or standard cameras. I have the t-series tele and wide lens and they are well-designed and offer better but not ground-shaking enhancements. The tele lens is probably best for compression not bokeh and the wide lens offers you a wide view (not as wide as the super wide) while maintaining the clear image of that fantastic iphone main camera.

Sandmarc: I like this company because they are always making new things which is a lot of fun. They have a 50x macro coming out, they always have some new grip or something mobile-related in the works and the best thing; they send you a case with each lens so you don't need to spend the extra 40 bucks for a case. The design is very simple and utilitarian. The pouches they send seem a little cheap compared to moment or shiftcam but they're fine. Returns are easy, they answer your emails quickly, and they're totally dedicated to mobile photography/videography. The only thing they're missing is a gold flare anamorphic - they do have a long range macro though. I've tried they're telephoto and macro but ended up returning them because I didn't see and earth shattering difference from the other lenses and I don't want to be in too many of these mobile lens ecosystems.

Shiftcam: Oh shiftcam. Here's the thing; they make really good lenses. I love the black and gold, the packaging is really well-designed, and everything works really well together. Having said, the company suuuuuuuucks. Returns are a hassle, they barely return emails, they kickstart everything and are super late on honoring kickstarter rewards (search for them there and look at the comments on their campaign and you'll see what I mean) and they are frustratingly silent about their upcoming plans. If you buy something from them and it's in pre-order or back-order status you will wait forever and they will not communicate with you as to when you can expect your order. Having said, I have the macro and long range macro and they are amazing and so much fun to use if you're into macro photography at all. I ordered the fisheye because they're on sale and I don't learn my lessons well apparently. I haven't tried their anamorphic yet but the last anamorphic I had from them had serious blue flares. Like, someone drew a pure blue line on my pictures in ms paint for something. I'm imagining they're better now but I haven't tested it yet.

The Others: Beastgrip is probably the best but also the largest, heaviest, and most expensive. Freewell looks like they have neat stuff and are heavily focused on filter selection but also have large and heavy lenses. I've tried the cheap no name brands on amazon and they're always terrible so I don't even mess with them anymore.

 

[zoossh]

Saw this review on reddit, not sure if its going to help
:


Personally I've found lenses from these 3 are pretty comparible; if you get a telephoto from moment it's not going to be drastically different than the telephoto from shiftcam. I haven't compared them side-by-side though so it's anecdotal at this point. I'll focus on the companies themselves and their offerings.

Moment Lenses: I don't know for sure but these are probably the most popular. Different companies have cages that fit the m-series of these lenses (Smallrig, Beastgrip, PolarPro, etc) and I have no doubt they'll support the t-series lenses soon enough. Moment also have a Gold-flare anamorphic which sandmarc and shiftcam don't have. I also appreciate the Moment is pretty transparent if a certain lenses works or doesn't work with a particular phone which is nice. Their filter support is really nice too; almost all of the lenses will fit standard 67mm filters which means you can use regular camera filters on your mobile lenses. It might be overkill at that point but whatever. This ecosystem is *missing* a long range macro which is my personal favorite lens and both sandmarc and shiftcam make one. The company seems solid and they have people that'll interact with you here on reddit which is a bonus. They seem focused on photography as a whole so sometimes they're focused on mobile lenses and other times they're focused on screw-on anamorphic or standard cameras. I have the t-series tele and wide lens and they are well-designed and offer better but not ground-shaking enhancements. The tele lens is probably best for compression not bokeh and the wide lens offers you a wide view (not as wide as the super wide) while maintaining the clear image of that fantastic iphone main camera.

Sandmarc: I like this company because they are always making new things which is a lot of fun. They have a 50x macro coming out, they always have some new grip or something mobile-related in the works and the best thing; they send you a case with each lens so you don't need to spend the extra 40 bucks for a case. The design is very simple and utilitarian. The pouches they send seem a little cheap compared to moment or shiftcam but they're fine. Returns are easy, they answer your emails quickly, and they're totally dedicated to mobile photography/videography. The only thing they're missing is a gold flare anamorphic - they do have a long range macro though. I've tried they're telephoto and macro but ended up returning them because I didn't see and earth shattering difference from the other lenses and I don't want to be in too many of these mobile lens ecosystems.

Shiftcam: Oh shiftcam. Here's the thing; they make really good lenses. I love the black and gold, the packaging is really well-designed, and everything works really well together. Having said, the company suuuuuuuucks. Returns are a hassle, they barely return emails, they kickstart everything and are super late on honoring kickstarter rewards (search for them there and look at the comments on their campaign and you'll see what I mean) and they are frustratingly silent about their upcoming plans. If you buy something from them and it's in pre-order or back-order status you will wait forever and they will not communicate with you as to when you can expect your order. Having said, I have the macro and long range macro and they are amazing and so much fun to use if you're into macro photography at all. I ordered the fisheye because they're on sale and I don't learn my lessons well apparently. I haven't tried their anamorphic yet but the last anamorphic I had from them had serious blue flares. Like, someone drew a pure blue line on my pictures in ms paint for something. I'm imagining they're better now but I haven't tested it yet.

The Others: Beastgrip is probably the best but also the largest, heaviest, and most expensive. Freewell looks like they have neat stuff and are heavily focused on filter selection but also have large and heavy lenses. I've tried the cheap no name brands on amazon and they're always terrible so I don't even mess with them anymore.

well, i am swayed.

sandmarc actually do have an anamorphic but its streaks are a little too harsh for me. i most likely will get a moment 1.33x which is lighter and cheaper than beastgrip (i dun mind spending more for the latter but not sure if i mind that weight) and hopefully the left/right edges wont be too soft.

for tele, i'm a little stuck. i dun see myself using it a lot so definitely i wont spend so much on beastgrip. moment maybe have shallow dof (but that is based on M-series). this review of T series says that the edge is soft - it may not be an issue if im shooting a centrally located object but it will be if i shoot a part of the building that is equidistant from left to right.... if i dun see any new inputs within the weekend, i might just buy sandmarc like you, within the period of black friday sale.

 

[zoossh]

i saw these when i am trying to find the front thread size for filter of the sandmarc tele.

1. i think sandmarc tele for iphone 15 and 14 are the same one. one review says
... Actually really good to shoot in 2x 48mpx thanks to the lens, but having some problems with dark vignette.
https://www.sandmarc.com/products/telephoto-lens-edition-iphone-14

2. another two sites says that the sandmarc tele on x3 will end up seeing part of the lens itself, needs third party software to manually change the lens (not sure if this can be done on moment app and if this is the same case with moment tele on x3)
... You need to use a third party camera app such as Lightroom by adobe. That way you manually select which camera to use. The Sandmarc telephoto lens does not work with the 14 pro 3x optical lens with the native camera app.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254840688

the only good thing is if i buy from both moment and sandmarc i can get the discount from both sides.

 

[lordofshanghai]

i saw these when i am trying to find the front thread size for filter of the sandmarc tele.

1. i think sandmarc tele for iphone 15 and 14 are the same one. one review says
... Actually really good to shoot in 2x 48mpx thanks to the lens, but having some problems with dark vignette.
https://www.sandmarc.com/products/telephoto-lens-edition-iphone-14

2. another two sites says that the sandmarc tele on x3 will end up seeing part of the lens itself, needs third party software to manually change the lens (not sure if this can be done on moment app and if this is the same case with moment tele on x3)
... You need to use a third party camera app such as Lightroom by adobe. That way you manually select which camera to use. The Sandmarc telephoto lens does not work with the 14 pro 3x optical lens with the native camera app.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254840688

the only good thing is if i buy from both moment and sandmarc i can get the discount from both sides.

Yea, read the review for the sandmarc doesn’t work with native camera app. Not exactly sure if the same problem exist for moment too.

For budget wise, sandmarc definitely more budget friendly due to their package consist of the hp case, the lens etc while moment sells them all separately

 

[zoossh]

Yea, read the review for the sandmarc doesn’t work with native camera app. Not exactly sure if the same problem exist for moment too.

For budget wise, sandmarc definitely more budget friendly due to their package consist of the hp case, the lens etc while moment sells them all separately

Had u purchase before the sale? Think there’s discount now

 

[lordofshanghai]

Had u purchase before the sale? Think there’s discount now

I just made my purchase for sandmarc, with this code BFCM2023
Think with shipping all in, costs less than USD $129

 

[zoossh]

I just made my purchase for sandmarc, with this code BFCM2023
Think with shipping all in, costs less than USD $129

Definitely cheaper than moment

Although I’m using small rig so the case won’t be issue, the sandmarc has a 40.5mm thread that can use their 40.6mm filter or step up to other size.

Moment via adaptor (no thread to step up) cost another $30 usd. It’s all add up.

 

[lordofshanghai]

Definitely cheaper than moment

Although I’m using small rig so the case won’t be issue, the sandmarc has a 40.5mm thread that can use their 40.6mm filter or step up to other size.

Moment via adaptor (no thread to step up) cost another $30 usd. It’s all add up.

Yea, am casual and trying out hp photography.
With the earlier reviews, trying with sandmarc. Moment seems more atas thou.