Here at Tech Support Forum, one of our livelier discussion threads is the Photo Gallery found in the ‘Photgrapher’s Corner‘ under the Home Support section in the forum. On a daily occurrence, people critique, share, and discuss their different photographs.
I am not much of a photographer, but I do happen to take a gander there and see what others have captured. Smartphone camera shots, high expensive cameras, and Photoshop creations are always welcomed and some of the photographers capture masterpieces.
Personally, I enjoy capturing a quick picture of the lake, my car, or perhaps that beautiful sunset. While I do not own a professional camera, my Samsung Galaxy Note 4’s smartphone camera gets the job done. However, there are times that the narrow lens misses something out or the lens cannot focus on a close-up object.
Becoming a photographer or even purchasing a few components to better your pictures is expensive. So, without breaking the bank, this Amazon-selling lens kit is one way to enter the photographic world or perhaps improve your Instagram pictures like I have.
Welcome to my review of the MPOW MLens V1. Throughout this review, I will be discussing the functionality and my final thoughts of the lens kit. A special thank you to MPOW for providing me with these lenses.
Functionality
For the review, I used my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 which has a 16-megapixel rear facing camera. The camera uses a 31 mm lens and the aperture is f/2.2. Additionally, the camera has built-in image optical image stabilization and autofocus. The stock Samsung camera application was used for all pictures taken in this review and high-dynamic-range (HDR) was turned on. No Photoshop or after effects were applied to any of the images taken.
Note: Click on any image to view it in full size.
Figure 1 – Reference shot. Normal camera shot from my Galaxy Note 4. No lens applied.
MPOW offers three lenses inside their MLens V1 kit. There is the macro lens which is used for close-up objects, the super wide angle lens greatly zooms out the image, and then there is the fish eye that provides a 180-degree view.
Getting started with the lenses is easy. Each lens has a strong clip that slips itself over your smartphone’s screen and camera. To prevent any damage to your phone, the plastic lens surfaces that touch the phone are lined with rubber pads. Even though the clamping force is strong, I did not find it caused any damage to the gorilla glass display.
Also, if desired, the lenses can be unscrewed from their plastic clamps so that they can be used in other ways.
Diving into it, I’ll begin with the macro lens. When I think of a macro lens, I think of something that has great close-up focus and is very precisely zoomed in on its object. This lens is meant to be pressed against a surface, like wood, carpet, skin, or any flat object. With a plastic shield to allow light to pass through, the macro lens gives your smartphone the ability to zoom in on objects that are otherwise undetectable by the smartphone lens.
Figure 2 – Macro lens. Wooden screw.
When used on carpet, you can see the individual threads that make up the carpet. On the aluminum top of my laptop, you can see what makes up the brushed finish. MPOW states that there is a 20X magnification when using their macro lens.
Next, there is the super wide angle lens. This is meant to provide a larger than normal viewing angle to your smartphone. I found this lens to be perfect for group selfies or taking a picture that I couldn’t zoom out for. Without the MPOW lens, I took a picture of my bedroom and I captured the corner of my bed. With this lens, I was able to get the entire room. There is a slight magnification of 0.36X, but it was unnoticeable to me and this is by far my favorite out of the three lenses.
Figure 2 – Wide Angle lens.
You can see here, that there is a significant difference from our reference image. Areas far to the left and right are now visible.
Lastly, there is the fish eye lens. Just like a fish, this lens allows your smartphone’s lens to capture a 180-degree view of an object. From top to bottom, left to right, the camera can see everything in sight, but this does some with a slight drawback. The corners and sides of your image will be curved into a ball. You can see this below, but since the lens is circular, the image comes out round as well. I also noticed a slight loss in image quality here as well. Do note that this lens does need a tight fit, so removal of your smartphone’s case may be needed.
Figure 3 – Fish eye lens.
While all my testing was performed on my Note 4, these lenses do work with laptops, iPhones, tablets, and any other devices that are thin enough that the clip can attach to the lens.
My Final Thoughts
Even though this review is shorter than most, I had a lot of fun with these lenses. They add some great functionality to your smartphone’s camera. I tend to carry around the super wide angle lens as it offers the best functionality and I can capture everything of the moment. Priced at $18.99 this is an excellent gift or product for anybody who wants to better their photography skills. As you can see in the picture above, it receives a recommendation from me just for image quality alone.
Apply the special TSF code: 4IEAHPQO and the price drops to $14.99.
Coupon expires on 11/30/2016.
Buy it Now:
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