Sunday, April 14, 2013 at 3:30PM | Editor Schneider Optics, iPro Lens System in News Tuesday, July 31, 2012 at 8:00AM | Editor 
You may recall at the beginning of July, I took delivery of a Schneider Optics 2x telephoto iPro lens, and at the time I expressed concern and disappointment that the lens seemed to badly suffer from soft edges. Since then I've been in contact with Schneider, and have been testing the lens, and below are my thoughts on this not so cheap lens and some of the feedback from Schneider regarding my concerns.
I'm not going to go in to too much detail regarding the lens build and packaging, as I've already covered this, but for those who have not read my "quick look at the Schneider iPro 2x telephoto lens", here is a quick summary.
Priced at $105 USD (lens only), the 2x iPro lens is nicely packaged, solidly made, and comes supplied with a combi case/handle extender and a lens cap (although this can't be left on the lens whilst stored in the case!!). If you're new to the iPro lens system, then you will also need to buy the iPro iPhone case (this is to allow you to attached the lens you your iPhone), which will cost you an extra $31.00 USD.
So we know the lens is solid and well made, but what about the optical quality that I raised concerns about? Well whilst on holiday a few weeks back, I took the opportunity to play some more with the lens, which sadly continues to disappoint. It didn't matter which camera app I used the results were the same as when I wrote my "quick look", sharp centre sweet spot, with very soft edges!! Now I've been in touch with Schneider over this problem, and they have sent me a preliminary report, that essentially says there is nothing wrong with the lens construction itself, and that the issues are related to limitations of the iPhones lens and image capturing process. Issues like the fixed f2.8 aperture on the iPhone 4 (f2.4 on the 4S), the selective focus and the way the iPhone captures and processes these shots with a lens that has no moving elements, and the rolling shutter, which has caused its own issues in the past.
Despite the report, I can't help but feel all this should have been spotted at the design and development stages, and clear usage guidelines provided on the iPro website, after all, I spotted these issues with in minutes of testing the lens.
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Although the lens does not living up to its expectations, it's not all doom and gloom, as if used on the right subject matter, like portraits, or where you want to create a depth of filed, then just like my sample shot above, the soft edges of this lens can be worked to your advantage.
So, in summing up, the 2x iPro lens is a disappointment, but as I've just said above, if used under the right conditions (and this will be subjective too your style of photography), it can produce some very pleasing results.
If you've bought the 2x iPro lens, what are your thoughts? What do you think of it? Have you experienced the same problems as me?
Sunday, July 1, 2012 at 1:26PM | Editor Last week whilst I was working away from home, a package from the UPS man was left with my next door neighbour, which turned out to be the 2x iPro telephoto lens from the very nice people at Schneider Optics.
The Schneider iPro 2x telephoto lens, lets you optically (not digitally) go from this…
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to this...
Click photo to view full size
Now I've only been back home for a few days, so haven't really had time to put the lens fully through its paces, but I have had a quick play with it, and being a little disappointed I've decided to share my initial thoughts on this lens.
Thursday, June 14, 2012 at 10:07PM | Editor 
You may recall back in January, Schneider Optics demonstrated and announced the pending release of their 2x Telephoto iPro Lens for the iPhone. Well the good news is, this, what should be an excellent addition to the iPro System, is now available to order. Priced at $105 USD, this new lens halves the iPhones camera field of view from 62° to 31° for stills, and from 46° to 23° for video, giving a 35mm equivalent focal length of 60mm and 84mm respectively.
I will be reviewing this new lens as soon as it arrives at iPhoneography HQ, but if you can't wait to order yours, then more information and ordering options can be found at iprolens.com
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 9:06PM | Editor Many of you will have read my reviews on the Olloclip 3-in-1 Lens and the Schneider Optics iPro Lens System, and some have asked which is best, so in this post I will try and answer that question, as best as I can.
The Macro
First up, the Olloclip is the only lens of the two that has a macro option, so it's 1-0 to the Olloclip.
Above: The Olloclip Macro Lens.
The Fisheye
Both the Olloclip and the iPro lens systems include a Fisheye Lens, and whilst the centre sharpness is good on both, the iPro is marginally better. With the distortion associated with a Fisheye lens, sharpness may not be the most important element when choosing a fisheye, however if you look at the sample photos below, you will notice the iPro lens offers a slightly wider field of view compared with that of the Olloclip, and so by a cats whisker, the Schneider lens wins this round.
Above: This photo was taken with the Olloclip Fisheye Lens.
Above: This photo was taken with the iPro Fisheye Lens (notice the extra field of view).
The Wide-Angle
For me, and probably many of you, the wide-angle is the most important and most useful lens found in both of these kits. Both lenses enable you to take photos with a wider field of view, making them ideal for landscapes, cityscapes, or anything where you want to capture in a single shot, a wider angle of view to that of the iPhone's standard lens.
When it comes to picture taking, whilst the Olloclip offers acceptable clarity and sharpness, of the two, it is the Schneider iPro Wide-Angle lens that is noticeably better, producing clearer and sharper results. Also, compared to the Olloclip, the Schneider iPro lens offers a noticeably wider angle of view. Whilst these features alone may not be overly important to some, it is the lens distortion that makes these two lenses stand so far apart. Whilst the Schneider lens cleverly corrects the distortion associated with an ultra wide-angle lens, as the sample shots below show, the Olloclip badly suffers from, and is let down by image distortion, and so in this final round, it is the iPro lens that is the clear winner.
Above: This photo was taken with the Olloclip Wide-Angle Lens (notice the distortion around the coast line and the near step).
Above: This photo was taken with the iPro Wide-Angle Lens (notice the extra field of view).
The Extras
If you've read my full reviews of both of these lenses, then you will be aware of each manufacturers chosen method of fitting their offering to your iPhone and the little extras that come with each lens, like the lens caps and custom carry pouch/lens cloth supplied with the Olloclip to the lens carry case supplied with the iPro, that doubles up as a grip/tripod mount, but this side by side comparison review isn't about these extras, it's all about the lenses.
So now for the big question, which is best, the Olloclip or Schneider iPro?
Despite the iPro Lens System winning more rounds in the head to head, there isn't an easy answer to this question, as both lenses are good, and it all depends what you are looking for in an add-on lens kit. If you want to shoot macro, then it has to be the Olloclip, or if you're looking for a reasonable quality lens at a reasonable price, the again the Olloclip ticks the box, however if want the best quality add-on lens currently available for your iPhone, then as the above photos show, it has to be the Schneider iPro.
The Schneider iPro Lens System (my full review can be read here) is currently priced at $200* from Schneider Optics, whilst the Olloclip 3-in-1 Lens is priced at $69.95*, and is available direct from Olloclip (my full review can be read here).
*Prices are excluding shipping costs.