Nice video, worth searching for the 1% of people that will actually give honest options..... well done (I am returning the lens and iphone 15 pro max case (thanks for Amazon free returns)
My key take form this video and from the research I've been doing into phone lenses is: A lot of the old lenses like Moment m-seires don't work on the newer phones like Iphone 15 pro camera sensors. For example moment had to release the T-series, So that reviews like this wouldn't surface. My guess is Shiftcam's Telephoto lenses needs an update to work with the newer phones. You might have mentioned this in your video but I haven't finished it yet (I will). Thanks for taking the time and effort to share your findings!
Hey thanks very much for putting up this review video. For a long time I always find "any extra" pieces of glass put in front of the lens will degrade the original lens quality and your video proof it right! Was about to get one but am so glad to see your video before I press the purchase button.
Thanks so much! I have a 60mm Shiftcam lens that was block the iPhone filed of view. I was lost until I watched your video. I have a full field of view with 60 mmm onboard. But I agree the shiftcam 60 mm while just ok, it is nothing to write home about. Thanks again!
Hi Jer, thanks for a great in-depth and candid review of this Shift-Cam lens. Certainly an eye-opening video in many respects. Thanks for doing this type of review. I hit the like button and I have started following you as well. I’m looking forward to seeing your upcoming videos.
I was attending an event recently attempting to video tape someone at a conference when the macro kicked in and the lens was in the shot. Had no idea how to resolve that, so thank you for explaining how to turn macro off to avoid that.
Glad to be of help! They really should have more information about it, it's not the end of the world, as long as you know how to fix it. I suspect they avoid talking about it because it is such a downside of the lens.
I figuered this out - on teh screen it jumps to macro automatically just click on the macro flower yellow button and turn it off and it will stay off - i had the same issue
I know the feeling! I wish I'd seen the reviews of this lens on the 15 Pro before buying it! Do you already have your lens? Let me know if you're using it on a 16 and how it goes.
Absolutely great video. Thanks for saving me money. It would be interesting to see comparisons with other phone lenses such as Sandmarc, Moment and Reeflex. Thanks.
You're welcome! I'd love to do a comparison with other lenses, since I suspect I might have been unfair to Shiftcam just 'cause all these lenses have similar issues once you dig into it. But I'm not going to buy them! I doubt I've endeared myself to the other companies enough for them to send me free samples, eh?
Such nice work. I think the only kind of these phone external lens worth trying are macro lenses. As you demonstrated, the "sweet spot" of these phone lenses are very narrowly concentrated around the center of the picture. Outside the sweet spot all kinds of image deterioration comes in. You might as well bokeh the hell out of them.
Yeah, I have to agree. Macro is a special case because the macro on these phones is truly horrendous. Resolution drops down to horrendous levels AND the angle of view is way too wide so you're bumping right into the bugs. Even on my Fuji X-T5, I don't actually use a macro lens, I use a snap-on attachment (Raynox DCR-250) on my 70-300mm lens, and it works amazingly. For whatever reason, "snap on" macro attachments are very doable without quality loss, unlike "snap on" telephoto extenders, which hardly exist in the big camera world (though the Fuji X-100 series does have one, so it's not unheard of). In big camera world, telephoto extenders go BEHIND the lens, not in front, and there must be a good reason for that (and that type of teleconverter often hurts resolution too).
Wish I had seen this sooner as well, I’ll have to take my heavy camera for my upcoming trip, instead of the shiftcam lenses… lenses were a gift but I wish my sisters would have saved their hard earned money. 😢
Hey man, here's my sub for a really good job! PS: is there any telephoto lens that works for the iphone 15 pro? I need it to be sharp and to also work for portrait/cinematic modes. Thanks again!
Thanks! That's a really tough question. Honestly I think if you consider "Portrait mode" and "Cinematic mode" requirements, you aren't going to find anything that works reliably. It would have to not block the other lenses and/or LiDAR sensor, which would mean it was truly enormous and impractical. The best you can hope for is one that has significant benefits in terms of magnification/bokeh while maintaining sharpness. IMO the Beastgrip 1.7x lens is the most likely candidate for that, like I say at the end of my video, but I doubt Portrait/Cinematic modes will work with it either, because it still blocks the lenses you aren't using.
Someone already suggested..but for you to be truly honest as on here, you might have to still do them on your own dime, yes do the other ones - Moment, Sandmarc, etc... may the lights be with you!
Yeah, no one has contacted me LOL. I think someone else is going to have to do it. To be really honest: I'm going back to my mirrorless and investing in a new Fuji body and a 70-300mm lens to get better wildlife shots. If you want what your phone doesn't offer, you have to go big or go home.
I am so grateful for your review. My heart sank as I had spent 2 days watching reviews and took the jump to order the case and Telephoto 2x. And just after ordering I watched your video. 30 min in, I was ready to cancel my order, amazon sent an email that it had been dispatched and I could not cancel it. Should I just return it untouched or try it on my iPhone13 pro and probably waste 165£ :(. I am quite angry at the way the company has been operating, in their marketing and promoting to youtuber early lenses that may not be representative.
Sorry I didn't see this 'till now. Honestly I guess I'd have recommended sending it back without opening, as you can imagine from my review. Hope it worked out OK!
@@JerCantShutUp I was able to check it and had similar results than you so returned it the same day on Amazon and got money back within 7 days. Success.
Thanks, I'm a total photography newb. I almost bought these after another photography TH-camr with hundreds of thousands of subscribers promoted the lens. But I decided to scour Reddit for reviews and other photographers started calling BS on their terminology. Then I stumbled onto your video which explained the BS.
You're welcome :) The funny thing about those photography TH-camrs with thousands+ followers is they will say how great and useful the lens is when reviewing it, or when making a video about "iPhone accessories you should get", but they NEVER use the lenses when making their own videos, and when they make a normal "get good video from your phone" video they don't mention them either. It's as if they know the phone is better off without them. What you need is a variable ND filter for outdoors, lights for indoors, and a good microphone system, not add-on lenses.
You mean for the video recording? Yeah sure. I shot this in the default camera app but have switched to Blackmagic Camera for recording videos now, then locking the SS at 180 degree shutter angle. Won't make this add-on lens any better, but improves the choppiness of the video :)
Thanks.. you just saved me $500… The glossy marketing can be so misleading. Appreciate the real world hands on proof.. and now looking at other similar product’s…👍🏼 as they don’t appear to have earned the F....as yet in the name… ShiftCam 😂
Nice video, worth searching for the 1% of people that will actually give honest options..... well done (I am returning the lens and iphone 15 pro max case (thanks for Amazon free returns)
Great in-depth review! Still haven't used mine yet, but at least I have an idea if I run into any of these same issues!
My key take form this video and from the research I've been doing into phone lenses is: A lot of the old lenses like Moment m-seires don't work on the newer phones like Iphone 15 pro camera sensors. For example moment had to release the T-series, So that reviews like this wouldn't surface. My guess is Shiftcam's Telephoto lenses needs an update to work with the newer phones. You might have mentioned this in your video but I haven't finished it yet (I will). Thanks for taking the time and effort to share your findings!
Hey thanks very much for putting up this review video. For a long time I always find "any extra" pieces of glass put in front of the lens will degrade the original lens quality and your video proof it right! Was about to get one but am so glad to see your video before I press the purchase button.
#MissionAccomplished 🫡🤣
Thanks so much! I have a 60mm Shiftcam lens that was block the iPhone filed of view. I was lost until I watched your video. I have a full field of view with 60 mmm onboard. But I agree the shiftcam 60 mm while just ok, it is nothing to write home about. Thanks again!
Thanks for doing this. Was gonna try this for a Pixel 8, but never mind now.
Hi Jer, thanks for a great in-depth and candid review of this Shift-Cam lens. Certainly an eye-opening video in many respects. Thanks for doing this type of review. I hit the like button and I have started following you as well. I’m looking forward to seeing your upcoming videos.
I was attending an event recently attempting to video tape someone at a conference when the macro kicked in and the lens was in the shot. Had no idea how to resolve that, so thank you for explaining how to turn macro off to avoid that.
Glad to be of help! They really should have more information about it, it's not the end of the world, as long as you know how to fix it. I suspect they avoid talking about it because it is such a downside of the lens.
I figuered this out - on teh screen it jumps to macro automatically just click on the macro flower yellow button and turn it off and it will stay off - i had the same issue
I really wish I had seen this earlier.
I know the feeling! I wish I'd seen the reviews of this lens on the 15 Pro before buying it!
Do you already have your lens? Let me know if you're using it on a 16 and how it goes.
Thank you so much for this review!
You're welcome!
Absolutely great video. Thanks for saving me money. It would be interesting to see comparisons with other phone lenses such as Sandmarc, Moment and Reeflex. Thanks.
You're welcome! I'd love to do a comparison with other lenses, since I suspect I might have been unfair to Shiftcam just 'cause all these lenses have similar issues once you dig into it. But I'm not going to buy them!
I doubt I've endeared myself to the other companies enough for them to send me free samples, eh?
Such nice work.
I think the only kind of these phone external lens worth trying are macro lenses. As you demonstrated, the "sweet spot" of these phone lenses are very narrowly concentrated around the center of the picture. Outside the sweet spot all kinds of image deterioration comes in. You might as well bokeh the hell out of them.
Yeah, I have to agree. Macro is a special case because the macro on these phones is truly horrendous. Resolution drops down to horrendous levels AND the angle of view is way too wide so you're bumping right into the bugs.
Even on my Fuji X-T5, I don't actually use a macro lens, I use a snap-on attachment (Raynox DCR-250) on my 70-300mm lens, and it works amazingly. For whatever reason, "snap on" macro attachments are very doable without quality loss, unlike "snap on" telephoto extenders, which hardly exist in the big camera world (though the Fuji X-100 series does have one, so it's not unheard of). In big camera world, telephoto extenders go BEHIND the lens, not in front, and there must be a good reason for that (and that type of teleconverter often hurts resolution too).
Thank you so much for this extensive review. I was about to buy it but I will definitely not.
Thanks for this review, very helpful.
Wish I had seen this sooner as well, I’ll have to take my heavy camera for my upcoming trip, instead of the shiftcam lenses… lenses were a gift but I wish my sisters would have saved their hard earned money. 😢
Wow you have saved me from wasting money on theselenses. i have iphone 15 Pro Max. Thank you so much.
Hey man, here's my sub for a really good job! PS: is there any telephoto lens that works for the iphone 15 pro? I need it to be sharp and to also work for portrait/cinematic modes. Thanks again!
Thanks! That's a really tough question. Honestly I think if you consider "Portrait mode" and "Cinematic mode" requirements, you aren't going to find anything that works reliably. It would have to not block the other lenses and/or LiDAR sensor, which would mean it was truly enormous and impractical.
The best you can hope for is one that has significant benefits in terms of magnification/bokeh while maintaining sharpness. IMO the Beastgrip 1.7x lens is the most likely candidate for that, like I say at the end of my video, but I doubt Portrait/Cinematic modes will work with it either, because it still blocks the lenses you aren't using.
@@JerCantShutUp appreciate the fact you took the time to answer. Totally makes sense now, thank you!
Someone already suggested..but for you to be truly honest as on here, you might have to still do them on your own dime, yes do the other ones - Moment, Sandmarc, etc... may the lights be with you!
Yeah, no one has contacted me LOL. I think someone else is going to have to do it.
To be really honest: I'm going back to my mirrorless and investing in a new Fuji body and a 70-300mm lens to get better wildlife shots. If you want what your phone doesn't offer, you have to go big or go home.
I am so grateful for your review. My heart sank as I had spent 2 days watching reviews and took the jump to order the case and Telephoto 2x. And just after ordering I watched your video. 30 min in, I was ready to cancel my order, amazon sent an email that it had been dispatched and I could not cancel it. Should I just return it untouched or try it on my iPhone13 pro and probably waste 165£ :(. I am quite angry at the way the company has been operating, in their marketing and promoting to youtuber early lenses that may not be representative.
Sorry I didn't see this 'till now. Honestly I guess I'd have recommended sending it back without opening, as you can imagine from my review.
Hope it worked out OK!
@@JerCantShutUp I was able to check it and had similar results than you so returned it the same day on Amazon and got money back within 7 days. Success.
Thanks, I'm a total photography newb. I almost bought these after another photography TH-camr with hundreds of thousands of subscribers promoted the lens. But I decided to scour Reddit for reviews and other photographers started calling BS on their terminology. Then I stumbled onto your video which explained the BS.
You're welcome :)
The funny thing about those photography TH-camrs with thousands+ followers is they will say how great and useful the lens is when reviewing it, or when making a video about "iPhone accessories you should get", but they NEVER use the lenses when making their own videos, and when they make a normal "get good video from your phone" video they don't mention them either. It's as if they know the phone is better off without them. What you need is a variable ND filter for outdoors, lights for indoors, and a good microphone system, not add-on lenses.
haha so honest, I was thinking about buying the macro bundle but I think is the same with this brand.... take my like good man!!
This Video much better then the lens : ) 👍🏼
For the life of me i could not get a clear picture with the telephoto lens it gave a crazy ghost like glow around everything
you probably should be shooting in a 3rd party app when using lenses to control shutter speed
You mean for the video recording? Yeah sure. I shot this in the default camera app but have switched to Blackmagic Camera for recording videos now, then locking the SS at 180 degree shutter angle. Won't make this add-on lens any better, but improves the choppiness of the video :)
I Ordered recently, I didn't get any reply, it seems they are genuinely fake.
Oof hope they didn’t charge you!
It looks like Shitcam had a completely different person or company do their advertising/website and they didn't even use the lens : )
damn, imagine having a phone that does not obey you.....I felt the pain....just buy an Xiaomi 14 Ultra and be happy man.
Thanks.. you just saved me $500…
The glossy marketing can be so misleading. Appreciate the real world hands on proof.. and now looking at other similar product’s…👍🏼 as they don’t appear to have earned the F....as yet in the name… ShiftCam 😂