review: Photojojo Telephoto Lens for iPhone 4 camera (and 3G/3GS)

It's a well-known fact that the digital zoom on the iPhone, even with the higher megapixel of the iPhone 4, is terrible if you use it to fully zoom in on an image. That's why sometimes we end up taking a picture from far away, with a bit of zoom, and then perhaps crop it out later in a photo editing app.

Not anymore!

Photojojo has developed an actual telephoto lens for the iPhone 4 (as well as the iPhone 3G/3GS and Verizon model iPhone 4) that can attach itself to a protective case.The case itself is a thin, plastic shell that covers the iPhone from the sides. On my iPhone 4, the top and the bottom are not protected. However, there is a space on the side for full access to the volume and ringer buttons. The back will have a precise cutout for the camera and flash, but there is also a round bulge that allows the telephoto lens to connect to your iPhone.

The 8X telephoto lens itself is fairly small, being no taller than your thumb. It's about an inch or so wide, so you can carry it around pretty easily without it being noticeable.

When the lens is on, you can launch a camera app on your phone and adjust the focus of the lens by twisting the focal ring. But it seems that no matter how much you focus the lens, there is a kind of tilt-shift effect, where the edges are slightly blurred with a sharper focus to the middle. If this is not the preferred look, the included tripod can be used for more stability and sharper overall focus.

The ball-and-socket joint of the tripod allows you to adjust your iPhone at any angle for your photographs. It's stable and handy to have, but definitely not for candid snapshots. The tripod also does not stand by itself when the iPhone is in portrait mode – you must use the phone in landscape mode for the tripod to stand freely. Another option is to simply hold the iPhone in portrait mode while it's in the tripod.

If you've ever needed to take close-up shots from afar, or even just want to get more creative with your iPhone photography, then the Telephoto Lens from Photojojo is a great fit for your iPhone.

Photojojo's 8X Telephoto Lens for iPhone includes the case, lens, tripod, cleaning cloth, and a carrying pouch to store everything. This lens case is available for iPhone 3G/3GS and iPhone 4 (AT&T and Verizon compatible) for $35 from the Photojojo Store.