Dang. Olloclip made the Core Lens Set awesome!
Olloclip Core Lens Set Review – Get more out of your iPhone 7’s camera
Olloclip’s Core Lens Set is the first iPhone 7 camera accessory that we’ve come across. We’ll be blunt by saying that using the new Core Lens Set has been refreshing. Why? Because Olloclips iPhone 6 and iPhone 5 products were underwhelming. This is not the case for the new lenses. The improvement in lens quality and quality of life upgrades makes the Core Lens Set a worthy camera accessory for your iPhone 7.
In our Olloclip Core Lens Set Review, we’re going to show you of comparison photos between the iPhone 6 and iPhone 7 versions. We will also highlight three features that Olloclip added to the Core Lens Set that improve the quality of the product.
If you’re wondering what other lenses we’ve reviewed, check out our reviews for Ztylus, Moment as well as HitCase.
Design – What’s different?
Olloclip has kept the general idea of the lenses the same. Basically, you slide the lenses over your iPhone 7’s camera. That’s what they did for the iPhone 6 lenses as well as the iPhone 5 lenses. What are the three things that impressed us the most about the Core Lens Set?
First off all, the Core Lens works with screen protectors. This was probably our biggest gripe with the previous versions as you couldn’t fit much between the iPhone and lenses. You basically had to strip your iPhone bare in order to use the iPhone 6 or iPhone 5 lenses. The iPhone 7 version also fits with a skin on (we used a DBrand skin in the video)?
We also noticed that the overhauled design of the Core Lens Set resulted in a better fit on the iPhone 7. The iPhone 6 version had a tendency to slip slightly resulting in constant fiddling with the lenses. This doesn’t happen on the Core Lens Set.
Second of all, the lenses now are removable so if you really only want to use one, you can. This makes the iPhone easier to handle. It also reduces the chance that you might rip the lens of your iPhone by accident. For example, if you’re filming action video, you can take the super-wide off and use just the fish-eye lens.
The last feature that impressed use was the lens holder. The iPhone 6 had a nice lens holder for you to secure your lenses when you weren’t using them. The Core Lens holder actually turns into a stand. This isn’t a game changer but it makes the entire package a little more useful than the iPhone 6 version. It also shows us the Olloclip has taken the time to improve their product rather than re-gurgitating their iPhone 6 lenses.
Out of the three, the compatibility with screen protectors and skins is a big win for us, the consumers. Know somebody who is looking for a camera accessory for their iPhone 7? Share this post with them!
Lens Quality – New and Improved Optics. Really?
The Core Lens set has three lens in total. A fisheye lens, a super-wide lens and a 15x macro lens. Olloclip decided to leave out the Macro 10x lens (the iPhone 6 had four lenses). Not a big loss in our opinion. Like previous versions, getting to the 15x macro lens requires you to unscrew the fisheye lens.
The super wide lens’s FOV is pretty standard when compared to other camera systems. When it comes to the iPhone 7 Plus, the normal wide lens doesn’t work with the dual camera setup. The iPhone 7’s dual lens system does works with the fisheye and macro lenses.
Olloclip’s marketing fluff claims that the lenses have improved optics. Is this actually true?
Photo Comparison between iPhone 6 lenses and iPhone 7 lenses
We took both sets of camera lenses on a New Years trip to Canmore and shot several comparison photos over a span of three days. Can you see the difference?
If you’re wondering, it was pretty cold (-20 degrees Celcius or-4 degrees Fahreneight).
Photo B’s were shot on the new Core Lens Set whereas the A’s where on the iPhone 6 version. There is a noticeable improvement along the edges of each photograph. For our iPhone 6 camera accessory comparison, the photos taken by the Olloclip ranked as one of the worst for lens quality. This is not the case for the Core Lens Set. Here are two photographs comparing the iPhone 7 Core Lens Set to the Moment Lens, the best lens for the iPhone 6 that we’ve come across.
We’re grasping at straw here but we think the upgraded clarity comes from the upgraded shape of the lens? The old version had lenses that sat flush but the new lenses are rounded which is like other camera systems. Regardless, the improvement in lens quality is noticeable.
With all things considered, we are impressed with the Olloclip Core Lens Set. The improvements in lens quality and general quality of life has made this a standout product for the iPhone 7 so far.
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Jeff R
April 28, 2017 at 6:03 pm
Will this work with the iPhone 6 Plus or just the iPhone 7. I do not like how the 6 version you reviewed flies off in the video. Also is this one better than the ztylus? (The one with the circle that goes in the back of the iPhone 6 Plus).
Aaron Ho
May 1, 2017 at 11:07 pm
I think the 7 version only works with the Z. The Ztylus’s lens is still better than the Olloclip for lens quality. The best lens I”ve used is the ExoLens. I don’t have a review for it just yet.