I’ve been using the iPhone XS for a few months now, and I can safely say it is one of the top camera phones from the last year. And just as I was thinking about how I could dial its photography capabilities up a notch, Sandmarc sent me a couple of lenses made for the XS to try out: a telephoto and a wide-angle, each costing $99 and $89 respectively.
Here’s what you’ll find in the box for both the lenses: A case for the iPhone XS with slots for lens attachment, a clip-on mount (in case you don’t want to use a cap), a pouch for lenses, and a cleaning cloth. I’m not a huge fan of cases on the phone but I quite like the Sandmarc case with matt finish.
Here’s what you’ll find in the box for both lenses: a case for your iPhone with a slot to attach the lens, a clip-on mount you can use instead of the case, a pouch for the lens, and a cleaning cloth. I’m not a huge fan of phone cases, but I quite like this one, because of its lovely matte finish and compact design.
I quite like the build quality of the aluminum-coated lenses too. They don’t feel cheap, and fit perfectly into the lens slot on the case. Plus, they’re light enough that they don’t make your phone feel top-heavy when they’re attached to the case.
These lenses don’t need to be set up in any way – you can use them as soon as you attach them to the iPhone with the case or the clip-on mount.
The telephoto lens is designed to allow for 2x optical zoom with the standard camera lens on the iPhone; you can also attach it to the telephoto lens built into the iPhone to get 4x zoom. The company claims that even the 2x optical zoom photo captured through the lens is crisper than the one captured through the phone’s built-in telephoto camera. But I’ll leave that for you to decide.
The photos below are in this order: 2x zoom from the Sandmarc lens, 2x zoom from the iPhone’s built-in lens, and 4X optical zoom using the Sandmarc lens along with the iPhone’s telephoto lens.