Camera lenses for an iPhone? There are boatloads of lenses that promise to bring out the professional photographer in you. Still, most of these are just plain gimmicks, manufactured to satisfy the cravings of an Apple fanboy who has more money than brains and specially made for people who want to dip their toes in real photography without buying a real camera. Most of the conversion lenses sold on the market add no value to the current iPhone camera that you already have.
Of course, there are a select few that actually do deliver and can even match DSLR cameras in terms of image quality. We did the work of finding them for you.
Armed with a pair of eyes trained to spot even the slightest difference in image quality, we have come up with a list of the seven best iPhone photography lenses. No gimmicks, no overpromises, no BS. These lenses redefine image and video quality on your iPhone.
The Best iPhone Photography Lens
Moment Tele 58mm Lens
Moment Tele Lens 58mm is our best pick for having the perfect balance in quality, design, and usability. It’s an iPhone clip-on accessory but looks like a sleek lens that you use for DSLR cameras. The mounting mechanism of this lens snugs tightly around the camera, keeping it secured and aligned. It is effortless to use, meaning you can mount and unmount this lens on your phone without the nasty setup and configuration.
To set your expectations straight, the Moment Tele Lens is not an actual 58mm lens. When used on an iPhone 11, it gives 2x optical zoom for the default configuration, bringing it to 56mm and 104mm instead of just 26mm and 52mm. This enhancement in quality makes your iPhone better in producing portrait and landscape images, and it captures fast-moving objects with great detail.
We tested different lenses, but this iPhone instantly became our most preferred lens for having superb usability and for producing the sharpest images that we have seen on an iPhone. It is a lens that people will want to use, and it’s so simple that you don’t have to be a pro to capture fantastic images. The Moment Tele Lens 58mm has a price tag that not a lot of people would be keen on spending, but it is the best camera lens that goes well with every iPhone.
Ztylus Z-PRIME MARK II Lens Kit
There is nothing more satisfying than to see a photograph with a soft, beautiful background. Often, the lenses that help you have this quality are quite expensive, but not the Ztylus Z-Prime Lens Kit. It includes three different lenses that give you great versatility and fit well on various models from iPhone 7 to XS Max. The quality of the images that these lenses produce is immersive and perfect in curating a beautiful Instagram feed.
The Ztylus Z-Prime Lens Kit includes a 65mm telephoto lens, a 10x macro lens, and a 16mm wide-angle lens all in one kit. Each of these lenses come with a threaded lens cap that protects these accessories from dust and a multilayer AR coating that gives you razor-sharp images. Regardless of what you need for your photography, we’re sure that you will love the professional-quality photos that these lenses will provide you.
If you compare it with other lenses in the market, the Ztylus Z-Prime Lens Kit is one of the few that delivers excellent value and produces high-quality and guilt-free photography.
Bitplay Premium HD Wide Angle
The Bitplay Premium HD Wide Angle is our top pick for framing grandiose scenery in the best quality possible with razor-sharp detail. Sure, other wide-angle lenses can produce the same quality images, but none of the lenses that we have tested have the combination of sturdy build, usability, and compatibility.
It works well with all the latest models of the proprietary SNAP! Mounting Systems, making it very easy to mount and unmount on all iPhones. It even works on CLIP, CLIP X, and AllClip, giving you more options than any wide-angle lenses that we have tested. You can also attach the Bitplay M52 adapter to use a standard 52mm filter, allowing you to remove unwanted glare and reflection on your images.
The Bitplay HD Wide Angle enhances the angle of the iPhone camera lens, allowing you to cover up to 98 degrees. That is about 30 degrees wider than the field of view for the standard lens of an iPhone 7 Plus. The minimum focus distance is 0.6 inch or 15mm, which crushed other wide-angle lenses that we have tested.
The lens is priced competitively against other lenses, but you need to spend on a separate mounting system or phone case to use it. The Bitplay HD Wide Angle may be bulkier, but it delivers high-quality images without distortion, making it the best choice for wide-angle shots.
Olloclip 3-in-1 Essential Lens Kit
Olloclip is the only remaining company dedicated to making smartphone lenses, so having their lens kit on this list is expected. They have a massive inventory of lenses that you can buy, but this kit makes it easy for anyone to pick one up and have all the essential lenses that they need. All of these accessories are compatible with the Connect X Lens System Clip, so you can easily mount these lenses on an iPhone XR or XS.
As opposed to other lenses, the Olloclip 3-in-1 Essential Lens Kit includes three lenses, all inside a small clip that you slip over the corner of your iPhone. You can unscrew the wide-angle lens to start using the macro lens or switch to a fisheye lens without the tedious process of mounting and unmounting.
Using the Olloclip comes with a bit of a learning curve, but once you get used to changing lenses, it’s easier than mounting and unmounting different lenses every time you need to shoot. iPhones are renowned for being always ready to point and shoot. With the implementation of the slide-to-shoot feature, it is faster than ever to take pictures on an iPhone, which makes it more important to have a lens that is as easy to use.
This lens kit even comes with a pivot stabilizer that will help you have better grip and stability while shooting. The Olloclip 3-in-1 Essential Lens Kit is an excellent lens for the iPhone, and with the right accessories, it can be a handy tool for professional photography.
Moment Anamorphic Lens
Do you need a bit of lens flare in your images? Then an excellent anamorphic lens will do the magic for you. For this category, our best pick is the Moment Anamorphic Lens. Although you will need the official Moment case and their camera app to get the most out of this conversion lens, there’s no doubt that it creates the most beautiful Anamorphic images that we have seen.
Anamorphic lenses are notorious for the tedious process of “desqueezing” images, but Moment made this process very easy. Although it requires you to use their camera app, the process becomes seamless as you can easily fit in 33% more field of view without noticeably affecting the details of the images.
All Anamorphic lenses improve the quality of images at the expense of some level of distortion. Hence, the most reliable anamorphic lens is the one that produces the least noticeable distortion. Moment’s lens tops all tests for the iPhone and does a great job of minimizing distortion. No, you can’t create Oscars-quality videos using it, but it is the best in terms of converting images and videos and making them usable without distorting the quality.
Hitcase TrueLUX SuperWide Fisheye
Need a super wide-angle camera lens for stunning imagery? The Hitcase TrueLUX SuperWide Fisheye is our top pick in this category for allowing us to capture 148 degrees without the notorious dark corners. Although it does not cost as much as other lenses that we have tried, it still delivers impressive photography.
When it comes to compatibility, the Hitcase TrueLUX SuperWide Fisheye works well with Pro, Magnetic Link, Shield Link, Crio, Ferra, and Splash mounting systems. Although you have to buy these cases separately, we think that these are far better than most iPhone cases. We tried this lens with a Shield Link case, and it was able to take the best super wide-angle underwater images we have seen on an iPhone.
Super-wide lenses usually create dark corners and distortion on the images, but not with the TrueLUX SuperWide Fisheye. There’s still some level of distortion, but not as much as other lenses. The dark corners are barely visible.
If we only compare image quality, other lenses can produce the same result. However, if you consider the price of the TrueLUX SuperWide Fisheye, it blows everything away by costing at least half the price of other heavyweights in add-on super wide-angle lenses.
Criacr Phone Camera Lens Kit
This list wouldn’t be complete without the Criacr Phone Camera Lens Kit. Although it does not produce the best quality images for the iPhone, it is still a top choice for creating better pictures and videos on a shoestring budget.
This lens kit includes 0.36x super wide-angle, 0.63x wide-angle, 15x macro, 20x macro, 2x telephoto, 198-degree fisheye, CPL, Kaleidoscope, and starburst lenses, all for less than $25. It competes well with more expensive lenses that we have tested, and these lenses look sleek, making it a perfect choice for daily use.
You don’t need a new case to start using these lenses. Just pick the lens that you need and screw it onto the clip, then clip it on your phone and start shooting. We love how easy it is to use and that it offers the most compatibility. The wide lens is also one of the few conversion lenses that can provide the sharpest wide-angle images without veering into the fisheye territory.
The image quality is slightly lackluster compared to other lenses on this list. Still, if you want to experiment with what you can do with conversion lenses without breaking the bank or committing to $100 lenses, the Criacr Phone Camera Lens Kit will improve your iPhone’s image quality and get you a step closer to professional photography.