The Olloclip 4-in-1 Lens system is a simple but hard to use camera accessory for your iPhone
Get it now!
Olloclip 4-in-1 Lens Review – Every wanted to do macro photography with your iPhone? You can with the 4-in-1 lens
Today we’re going to do a review on the Ollocip 4-in-1 lens. Olloclip is probably one of the original iPhone camera lens systems and from our time with this product, it works if you don’t move much but not as well as other iPhone camera setups if you’re on the go. We’ll elaborate in the last section of this review.
We would recommend getting the case that integrates with the 4-in-1 lens as it won’t play nice with other cases or screen protectors. In fact, the case is one of the best handling cases that we’ve reviewed for the iPhone 6’s.
For our Olloclip 4-in-1 lens review, we’ve given this iPhone camera case a score of 3.5 Eh’s out of 5. It’s one of the higher scored Lens systems due to its simplicity and # of lenses. The overal lens quality is lower than other systems such as the Moment Lens and Ztylus offerings. Management of the lens system also isn’t as slick as the HitCase Snap. Check out the comparison tool if you’re wondering about the other camera cases that we’ve reviewed. If you’re sold on the Olloclip 4-in-1, consider getting the product through our Amazon links!
[komper pid=187 category=11 compareform=no]
The Olloclip 4-in-1 Lens System – The case is extra but necessary
The 4-in-1 has a 10x macro lens, a 15x macro lens, FishEye and a wide angle lens. The entire package looks like there are only two lenses as the macro lenses are cleverly hidden under the fisheye and wide angle lenses. Getting to the macro lenses require you to unscrew the larger lenses. The multi-lens setup is a neat idea, but Olloclip doesn’t give you a good solution to store the unscrewed lens. You’re going to run into a lot of dust issues if you pop the lens into a pocket.
The lens mounts to your iPhone by sliding it over the camera. It’s actually quite easy to slide the clip over the camera as clip glides it perfectly over the camera. The iPhone 6 version of the clip was easier to deal with than the iPhone 5 version because of the protruding camera. This is the only time where I’ll say the protruding iPhone camera is a good thing. The optional case doens’t make installation of the clip any easier.
The clip sits in a brightly colored insert that can be attached to a neck lanyard that Olloclip supplies. In general, the Olloclip 4 in 1 is one of the smallest camera lens systems out there, but the small size and multiple lenses does come at a cost in terms of picture quality.
The clip stays on the camera but will fly off with enough force. It is quite easily to misalign the lenses which make taking pictures a little more finicky. The clip will cover the ambient light sensor, so you need to set the brightness of your screen manually.
The optional case isn’t drop-rated though it’s thick enough to protect your iPhone from smaller drops. The edges of the case are quite high which is needed since you’re going to have a hard time using the Olloclip with a screen protector.
The entire lens system doesn’t get in the way of accessing your iPhone. If you’re using a 6-sized iPhone, there is an piece that keeps the clip from hanging over the screen though the system will still work if you lose it.
[divider][/divider]
The Olloclip 4-in-1 Lenses – How many would you use?
As we mentioned earlier, there are four lenses with the Olloclip. You have no idea what lens is what unless you bring them closer to your eyeballs. This lack of distinction between lenses makes it a little harder to chose the right lens when you’re trying quickly to capture a shot with a particular lens. It is so much easier to pick a lens with the HitCase Snap than it is with the Olloclip 4-in-1.
We tend to gravitate towards the wide angle lens. Photos shot with the fish-eye lens are nice to capture as much of the subject as possible but the distortion is a bit much. Viewing fish-eyed video is alittle more bearable. The entire system doesn’t have the same stability as the HitCase snap so you won’t be shooting action based video with the Olloclip 4-in-1.
The macro lenses are excellent but are slightly limited in their use. Our biggest issue with the macro lenses is that you need to be very stable with your hands which Aaron apparently is not. Even with the Olloclip app, trying to shoot a close up of the Gecko logo on the glasses cam is quite hard. We would suggest shooting macro shots with a small tripod or a Joby Gorilla pod.
There is a noticeable difference between the 10x and 15x macro lenses as the 15x shot of Aaron’s F-key looks way more disgusting than the 10x version.
[divider][/divider]
4-in-1 lens quality – How does it compare against others?
For lens quality, the Olloclip doesn’t perform as well as lenses from Ztylus and Moment though those premiums lenses come at a premium price. Every photo taken with the Olloclip has blurry edges which are quite noticeable when you compare these landscape pictures of the Olloclip and the Moment Lens. The quality of the picture is quite comparable to the HitCase Snap and Bitplay Snap! Pro lenses.
At the beginning of the review, we mentioned that this wasn’t a good system for people looking to shoot things on the go. To get full use of all the lenses will result in a pile of time managing caps, screwing lenses and trying to keep the lens safe. Compared to the Ztylus Prime, swapping between the wide angle lens and telephoto is quite simple with the Z-carrier. The 4-in-1 has a better system than the Moment Lens which is stored in a tiny pouch. The neck strap helps but is really used to help transport the entire system rather than manage it.
[divider][/divider]
Again, for our Olloclip 4-in-1 Lens Review , we gave this iPhone camera case a score of 3.6 Eh’s out of 5. Have questions? Please ask them on our Google+ page or our Facebook page or our About Us page.
