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Real Review: olloclip iPhone 5/5s 4-In-1 Lens

Besides coming with a special iPhone 5/5s case, the olloclip comes with lens caps, a carrying pouch, and iPod touch 5th Generation adapter.

Every now and again we get our hands on something that albeit not entirely specific to personal watercraft, fits itself perfectly in the sport. One of those little gems has got to be the olloclip 4-In-1 lens (in our case, for the iPhone 5/5s).

If you’ve never heard of olloclip, don’t be disappointed. Unless you’re a big tech geek, a professional photographer or Machead, you likely wouldn’t have. They’re not exactly a mainstream item. The camera in the iPhone 5/5s is already a stout little piece at 8 megapixels.

There’s no shortage of high resolution images of gorgeous vistas, beautiful landscapes and quirky candid shots of friends and family taken from iPhones without the assistance of an olloclip – and that’s fine. The olloclip 4-In-1 lens isn’t meant to “fix” the iPhone camera but enhance it.

The standard camera lens of the iPhone 5/5s is rather narrow, whereas the quick-connect olloclip 4-In-1 lens includes a broad-spectrum Fisheye, Wide-Angle and two Macro lenses in one small, compact package that easily fits in your pocket.

Using the Wide-angle lens while snapping a panoramic shot opens up the vista by double. Detail shots of engine compartments, pumps or other hard to reach spots are made easy with the 10X and 15x lenses.
Although the olloclip is cheaper than most decorative cases ($69), it’s not by any means “cheap.”

The olloclip’s lenses are made with precision-ground, coated glass multi-element optics, as the barrels are made from red-anodized CNC-machined aircraft grade aluminum. The lens simply slides over the iPhone’s corner camera, holding snug thanks to the olliclip’s soft plastic center body.

Switching between the Fisheye and Wide Angle lenses is as easy and reserving the olloclip, immediately changing the angle and range of the image. The 4-In-1 lenses are fully-capable as well, the Fisheye lens captures “approximately a 180° field-of-view”, the Wide-angle lens doubles the field-of-view of the standard iPhone lens, and the 10x and 15x Macro Lens has an approx. 18mm and 12mm focus distance (respectively). To access either Macro lens, simply unscrew and remove the Wide-Angle or Fisheye lenses.

We first tested the olloclip at the 2014 Nashville Boat Show and were pleased with the results. Since then, we’ve used the olloclip at nearly opportunity.

For those who regularly use their iPhone for photographing and recording video while riding, the added field of view is worth the price of admission alone.

Given the cost of SLR cameras and the increasing technology imbued in our smart phones, the olloclip is the budget-friendly solution that we had been asking for. Although, we’ve misplaced the little satchel more times than we’d like to admit (thankfully, we’ve found it a day or two later), the little palm-sized attachment has delivered in a big way.

Kevin Shaw
Kevin Shawhttps://watercraftjournal.com
Editor-in-Chief – [email protected] Kevin Shaw is a decade-long powersports and automotive journalist whose love for things that go too fast has led him to launching The Watercraft Journal. Almost always found with stained hands and dirt under his fingernails, Kevin has an eye for the technical while keeping a eye out for beautiful photography and a great story.

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