The Moment Wide Angle Lens – first thoughts
Over the past couple of years, I have been conscious about how the weight of my gear has impacted my love of photography. Overseas trips started feeling like work instead of an opportunity to relax.
I am partly guilty of allowing my passion overtake my own down time. I want to come away with good images, and hence needed the use of my mirrorless system and assortment of lenses to be able to get good pictures. I also have now gone the route of wanting to capture memories… and for this purpose, camera phones have come a long way. This is particularly the case with the iPhone X.
While I am a Mac user, I’m not a hardcore fanboy who will wait in line to get the latest device. I was somewhat conscious of not upgrading from the 6S to the 7. However, when I saw the enhanced camera on the iPhone X, I was onboard straight away.
My conundrum remained when it came to landscape shots. The iPhone does native portraits really well, but didn’t really have something for landscapes to cater for a wider field of view. I’d used clip-on lens accessories and had been disappointed by the image quality – particularly around the edges.
A couple of years ago, I’d come across the Kickstarter announcement for the Moment lenses and was somewhat sceptical. I didn’t back them, and they launched with an initial range of lenses.
In the time since their Kickstarter, Moment made progress, and released an upgraded set of lenses. They had vastly improved the optics of their 18mm equivalent Wide Angle lens. These lenses are not cheap… and there is a good reason as to why. Their image quality is head and shoulders above any generic wide-angle clip-on adapter that is out there on the market.
Moment lenses attach to your phone’s camera via a specialised case which they sell. The cases are sturdy and come in a choice of a very neutral black, or a wooden finish. Moment also manufactures a battery-enhanced case for the iPhone. The key driver here was that they supported the iPhone. I ordered myself the wide-angle lens and the case. Here are a couple of images to illustrate the effects.
These images are straight out of camera, with no editing. The ones shot with the wide-angle lens attached provide a much wider field of view.
I’ve been thoroughly impressed with the image quality, and have shot all my images from my trip to Batam on the iPhone using the Moment wide-angle lens. It also adds a greater field of view with video (which the iPhone crops to offer stabilisation).
I’m so impressed with the image quality that I am about to order a few other lenses – the superfish and the anamorphic – from Moment.
I ordered these lenses directly from the manufacturer and they were delivered to me in Singapore in 3 days flat. These lenses are expensive, but you’re getting what you pay for. The down side is that the cost for shipping is somewhat steep.
I reckon that with this set of lenses, I’ll be travelling with the iPhone alone one short breaks where I’m less keen on making it a photography trip, and more about keeping a few memories.
Moment makes cases for versions of the iPhone from the iPhone 6 upwards, the Samsung Galaxy S8 and upwards, the Samsung Note 8 and the Google Pixel.
Alternatives
Singapore has a Kickstarter store at Millenia Walk, and I had recently come across a selection of mobile phone lenses by another manufacturer – Oowa (who are a Singapore based Startup, and whom I was very keen on supporting).
They were also funded on Kickstarter. However, at the time that I was looking to make a purchase, they did not have a compatible case for the iPhone X.
Their lenses are significantly cheaper than Moment. However, I’ve read reviews about the durability of their cases. I do however expect them to get these issues ironed out. The issue was the non-availability of a case for an iPhone X at the time of my purchase.
