A quick look at a trio of iPhone lenses from Vtec

A couple of months ago I was sent 3 iPhone add-on lenses from a company called Vtec (not to be confused with the toy company VTECH). The lenses supplied were a Fisheye, a Wide-Angle and a 12x Telephoto lens. Over the past 2 months I've played around with these lenses, and here is my quick overview/thoughts on this trio of iPhone lenses.

Note: Before I start, I should point out that these are the same lenses as sold by the like of USB Fever and Photojojo, and I'm sure many others.

The Case
The easy to fit case (simply snap on or off your iPhone), has a soft none slip velvety like matt finish, a threaded lens mount with a cut out that allows for flash photography when not using the lens, along with cutouts for easy access to all the iPhone's buttons and sockets.

The Fisheye Lens
As mentioned above, these are the same lenses as those sold by USB Fever, so I'm not going to review Vtec's version, as I've already reviewed the USB Fever version, which you can read here.

The Wide-Angle/Super Macro Lens
Just like the USB Fever and Photojojo Fisheye lens, Vtec's Wide-Angle Lens is made of aluminium, the elements are made of multi-coated optical glass that provide a wide 0.68x angle view, and is supplied with plastic front and rear lens covers.

Above: The shot on the left was taken with the iPhones standard lens, whilst the shot on the right was taken with the Vtec Wide-Angle LensThe 12x Telephoto Lens
Like all the lenses in this range, the 12x Telephoto Lens is made of aluminium, has multi-coated optical glass, plastic front and rear lens covers, plus a mini table-top tripod to help keep things steady whilst taking those shots.

Above: The shot on the left was taken with the iPhones standard lens, whilst the shot on the right was taken with the Vtec 12x Telephoto LensSo what do I think of this trio of lenses?
Well the Fisheye is just like the USB Fever version that I reviewed here, and is definitely the best of the bunch, the Wide-Angle is not very sharp, suffers from distortion and bad vignetting, whilst the 12x Telephoto is the worst of all the lenses. Although this Telephoto lens may offer a whopping 12x magnification, letting you capture those far away subjects, it is difficult to focus, almost impossible to hand hold, and has a serious centre hotspot problem.

Final thoughts
Well, these lenses were seriously unimpressive, and I would not recommend any of them to anyone. If you are serous about your iPhone photography and want to extend its optical capabilities, then if money is no object then I would highly recommend the Schneider iPro lens system, or if you're on a tighter budget then the Olloclip gets my recommendation for most capable/versatile/affordable lens.

Price and availability
Despite not getting my recommendation, if you are interested in any of these lenses, then they are available direct from Vtec priced at £24.99 GBP for the Fisheye, £24.99 GBP for the Wide-Angle, and £34.99 GBP for the 12x Telephoto.

This week "Through the Lens of an iPhone"

OK, it's that time of the week when I should be showing this weeks selection of photos from the iPhoneography blogs Flickr group, but over the past few weeks the quality of submissions to the "Through the Lens of an iPhone" Flickr group has dropped significantly. There are plenty of nice photos, but just not great photos, so whilst my comments may be a little controversial, here is my challenge.

"Show me what you can do with your iPhone photos, but remember, don't over process or under process them, make them great, not just good."

OK, I've had my little moan, and set the challenge, but many of you may be asking what I think is a great photo, so in great Blue Peter style, here's one I prepared earlier.

On the right is my original photo, which is nice, but definitely not great, but on the left is one of the best images I've created to date. So how did I do it? Well obviously I cropped the original, but then I used Big Lens to focus on the face and blur out the background before enhancing and converting to Black and White with Snapseed.

For more inspiration, check out my past selections, which show plenty of great and inspiring images.

The Phoneographers Talk #4

Previously known as "The iPhoneographers Talk", here is episode 4 with Guy Yang and the Kensington & Chelsea College iPhoneography course lecturer Richard Gray.

645 PRO, the iPhoneographers real camera app just got another major update

Since its release back in April, 645 PRO has seen two substantial updates. The first update (version 1.10) came shortly after the original app hit the App Store, and featured a bunch of bug fixes and requested enhancements. The second update (version 1.11) has just hit the App Store, bringing many sought after features and a few previously missed bug fixes. Of the new features found in this release of 645 PRO, the two most important ones have to be the apps ability to now save the dRAW TIFFs directly to Camera Roll rather than Documents folder, and to be able to save "unprocessed" JPEG with NO film simulations. In addition to these two important new features, this update also includes:

• Double-tapping the Mode Selector disables the Film Modes and Backs for "unprocessed" JPEG output (and re-enables them)
• Smoother operation for Back Selector and Mode Selector knobs
• Option to save dRAW TIFFs to Camera Roll rather than Documents folder (via Settings.app)
• Option to mute audio feedback (via Settings.app)
• Option to add Artist Name to EXIF data (via Settings.app)
• Option to disable GPS tagging of images (via Settings.app), although Location Services must still be enabled to view images, as imposed by Apple
• Fixed quirks in "upside down" landscape mode
• Fixed "black screen" for users trying to review/share images with Location Services restricted (but not disabled...)
• Fixed Flickr sharing bug where title was not being posted
• Fixed intermittent issue where zoom level was incorrectly sent to image capture
• Revised sharing buttons
• Updated User Manual

645 PRO is available now from the App Store priced at £1.99/$2.99/€2.39, or as a free update to existing owners/users.

Picfx gets 22 new effects, "Classics", "Vintage" and "Urban"

If you're a fan of those 1-click quick fix photo apps, then you'll love Picfx and its latest update. Released today, version 4.0 of Picfx now boasts over 100 effects, which includes 22 new looks added to the "Classics", "Vintage" and "Light" sets, as well as a brand new set called "Urban".

Picfx 4.0 is available now from the App Store priced at £1.49/$1.99/€1.59, or as a free update to existing owners/users.

This week "Through the Lens of an iPhone"

With the sun shinning here in the UK, my garden (or the jungle as the wife likes to call it) had my name written all over it this morning, so having cut the lawn, tackled the weeds, it's now time for this weeks "Through the Lens of an iPhone" showcase, and so here, and in no particular order are my selected images.

If you want to see more submissions, then head over to the Flickr group here, or if you feel inspired and want to take part, then join the group, read the simple rules and start uploading, but remember, all photos must be taken and processed on an iPhone.

Click to read more ...

Wood Camera, wooden by name, but not by nature

Described as the camera app "for the photographer in everyone", Wood Camera gives you full control over your iPhone shooting and editing process.

Above: The filter, the frame and the birds were all added to this photo using Wood Camera's various pre-defined effects.

Wood Camera features:

• LIGHTBOX: Easily import and view your photos all in one place. Tap once to enter full-size preview mode, or double-tap to go straight to the editing screen.
• LIVE LENSES: Use the in-app camera to shoot with each of our 22 lenses in real-time.
• FLEXIBLE EDITING: Layer 22 lenses, 17 textures, and 12 frames for thousands of possible combinations. 
• TILT-SHIFT & VIGNETTES: Pinch to customize tilt-shift radius and vignette position and intensity. Advanced touch rotation gesture to control linear tilt-shift for that perfect professional look.
• ONE-TOUCH PREVIEW: Tap and hold to quickly compare your edited image to the original shot.
• NON-DESTRUCTIVE: Enjoy the freedom to go back and modify any changes you made to the original image, even after exporting your work.
• FULL RESOLUTION: Import and export your images at the full, 8 MP resolution of the iPhone 4S camera.
• EASY SHARING: Quickly share your photos to the Camera Roll, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr or Instagram.

So, what do I think of Wood Camera? Wood Camera has a nice easy to use interface, and whilst it may have features similar to other apps, there are few filters and frames that that can be applied to saved photos that I've not seen before.

All-in-all, Wood Camera is a nice app that gets a thumbs up from me, and thanks to developers Bright Mango, the iPhoneography blog has 25, yes 25 promo codes to give away over this weekend. So how do I get one of these promo codes I hear you say. Well hop over to our Facebook page, where during the course of the weekend I will be posting 5 codes at a time, on a first come first served basis.

If you can't wait to try out Wood Camera, or miss one of the codes, then you can download your copy for £1.49/$1.99/€1.59 from the App Store right now.

My iPhone photos are all Perfectly Clear again

If you've been shooting photos with your iPhone as long as I have, then you will probably own (if not heard of) Perfectly Clear from Athentech Imaging.

In the early days of iPhoneography, Perfectly Clear was everyones (including mine) go to app for improving the cameras poorly exposed images, with just 1 click. Then about 18 months ago, disaster struck, as due to developer issues, a seriously buggy version 2.0 of Perfectly Clear hit the App Store, and this once 5 star app rapidly fell to a 1/2 star app.

Well, it may have taken 18 months, but yesterday version 2.4 of Perfectly Clear for the iPhone hit the App Store, and the King of the "Automatic Photo Correction" apps is back, and here is what is new, improved and FIXED :)

• Fixed crashing bug from previous version
• Memory optimization to prevent running low on memory
• Optimized preview for faster loading
• Optimized correction speed by over 100%
• Updated save size to accommodate 8MP camera (4S)
• Optimized file size for faster workflow
• Made Tint correction more responsive
• Captures and preserves EXIF data when taking photo through Perfectly Clear
• Captures and preserves location data when taking photo through Perfectly Clear
• Preserves EXIF data when importing image
• Preserves location data when importing image
• Identifies Perfectly Clear corrected image in EXIF data
• Fixed image orientation data
• Improved share abilities with Facebook
• Improved share abilities with Twitter
• Improved share abilities with email
• Increased response from correction sliders
• Fixed unusual behaviour of slide-out panel

If you already own Perfectly Clear for the iPhone or iPad, then you can download version 2.4/1.4 for FREE, but if you've never heard of/seen/tried this app before, then until Friday both apps are on sale for £0.69/$0.99/€0.79/£1.49/$1.99/€1.59, and I can honestly say, having played with the iPhone version, whether you have an iPhone 4 or 4S, "Perfectly Clear is once again a must have app."

Above: Taken with my iPhone 4. Before and after Perfectly Clear.

A word about Perfectly Clear for the iPad: Disappointedly, version 1.4 will not save above 8 megapixels, so if you edit your digital compact/DSLR photos on your iPad and hoped to be able to add Perfectly Clear for the iPad to your workflow, then you will be sadly disappointed. I have raised this issue with Athentech Imaging, and I have my fingers crossed in hope that they will address this, but until then I can not recommend the iPad version for anything other than lower resolution photos :(

Above: Taken with my Fuji X10. Before and after Perfectly Clear.

App Store Link: Perfectly Clear for the iPhone; Sale Price: £0.69/$0.99/€0.79

App Store Link: Perfectly Clear for the iPad; Sale Price: £1.49/$1.99/€1.59

App Alert: PicPlayPost, ACDSee Camera Flash, Halftone and Pixlr-o-matic PLUS are all FREE right now

PicPlayPost [App Store Link], ACDSee Camera Flash [App Store Link], Halftone [App Store Link] and Pixlr-o-matic PLUS [App Store Link] are currently on sale in the App Store right now, for FREE. The best of these offers is Pixlr-o-matic PLUS, which if you don't already own this one, then grab it now, whilst it's still available for FREE, and if you don't have any of the others, then grab those as well.

Shoot real-time effect photos and videos with PowerCam™

If you missed out on todays app giveaways, and are looking for a free and fun app to play with, then check out PowerCam™ from Wondershare Software.

PowerCam is a fun photo and video app that lets you apply effects like color splash, tilt-shift, vintage film, and many others to your photos and videos, and all in real-time.

PowerCam normally sales for £1.49/$1.99/€1.59, but right now you can grab a copy from the App Store for FREE.