The Good: Great fun to use, easy to add/remove from iPhone and well constructed.
The Bad: Carrying pouch could be larger to comfortably fit the 4-in-1 lens. It won’t work with iPhone cases either, which may be a deal breaker for some.
The Bottom Line: A recommended purchase for iPhone photography lovers who want to have a little more fun with their photos.
I’ve been a total fan of the olloclip 4-in-1 lens ever since I got my hands on it for my old iPhone 5. Just as I mentioned in my original review, the iPhone camera is already a great performer but the olloclip lenses offer a range of new ways to have fun with photography.
Olloclip’s new version for the iPhone 6 & 6 Plus packs the same 4 lenses — wide-angle, fisheye, 10x and 15x macros — but this time around you’re also getting 3 different coloured pendants that can attach to things like backpacks, key rings or lanyards. Olloclip also throws in a carrying pouch (which I wish they would have made larger) and lanyard too, making it that much more convenient to carry your lenses around.
Olloclip throws in 3 pendants, a small pouch and a lanyard with the 4-in-1 lens.
In terms of build quality they seem to have stuck with a winning formula; the olloclip’s detachable lenses are made out of the same high-quality metal build which makes it feel tough and durable, and the plastic base which grips onto the iPhone feels strong too.
The most noticeable change with this olloclip 4-in-1 lens is the new front and rear facing design. Unlike the iPhone 5 model which simply latched on to the top corner of your device (for use with the rear-facing camera), this new design means that you can switch to selfie-mode without doing any extra fiddling — the front-facing lens is already in place.
Just tap the icon on your iPhone’s display to switch to selfie mode and the olloclip is already there to apply its fisheye or wide-angle effect.
Olloclip 4-in-1 lens can be used with the iPhone’s rear and front-facing cameras.
Getting the olloclip attached onto the iPhone 6 is super simple. You just have to take the plastic base and slide it over the iPhone’s protruding rear lens (which it latches on to for extra stability). During my time with the olloclip I’ve had no issues with stability or worries about it falling off; I even tried shaking around my iPhone and the 4-in-1 lens stayed in its place, so that was reassuring.
Thanks to a clever design, switching between the 4 lenses is easy because both the fisheye and wide-angle lenses only fit into their respective slots on the olloclip base. So if you remove both the lenses so that you can use the 10 and 15x Macro lenses beneath them, there’s no chance of mixing up their positions when it’s time to assemble it all together again.
One thing you’ll have to consider before diving in to buy one of these though is that it doesn’t work with any case apart from olloclip’s own. (It was announced at CES 2015 and release dates are yet to be announced.)
Wide-angle & Fisheye lenses
Now onto the interesting part: the photos! Below you’ll see 3 different shots of the same wall near my office; notice how the Olloclip adds something new with every lens I use.
So as you can tell, both of the lenses add a completely different dimension to the shot. I took a photo of a cool wall, but whether it’s a national monument, event, nature, or even group selfies, the olloclip’s wide-angle and fisheye lenses give you plenty to play with.
10x & 15x Macro Lenses
Try taking a really close photo of the fabric on your pillow, clothes or bed sheets with your iPhone’s camera. You can’t — the iPhone lens just can’t focus on the object at that sort of range. The olloclip’s 10x & 15x Macro lenses on the other hand give you the ability to do just that, and the results are stunning.
Photo of the olloclip’s carrying pouch, using the 10x Macro lens.
Same carrying carrying pouch, this time using the 15x Macro lens.
Whether you want to get close-ups of flowers, fabrics, display pixels, diamonds and anything else in between, these Macro lenses pick out the finest details. You’ll need a stable hand for the best possible shots — neither of these lenses cope very well with sudden movement — but when you do manage to steady your hand the shots come out looking great.
Olloclip 4-in-1 Lens: Verdict
The olloclip continues to be my favourite photography accessory for the iPhone, especially with these recent updates like the front-facing lens. It’s really well built, a lot of fun to use and most importantly, you can take some epic shots with it.
Go on, treat yourself using the links below. You won’t regret it.
ORDER FROM AMAZON U.K. ORDER FROM AMAZON U.S.