Sharpening your selfies: Attachable lenses for your smartphone

Many smartphones already take decent photographs, but new camera lenses designed specifically for your phone can take your pictures to the next level.

Consumer Reports tested a wide variety of lenses, including macro, fish-eye, soft-focus, telephoto, and wide-angle lenses.

Of the lenses that were tested, Photojojo’s were the least expensive, costing about $26 each. Lensbaby’s soft focus lens costs approximately $80. Mobi-Lens charges about $40 for its wide-angle lens, and the Olloclip sells its wide angle and telephoto lenses in a kit for about $130.

“What’s exciting about these lenses is they let you expand the capabilities on your smartphone and let you get creative at a reasonable price,” said Consumer Reports Camera Editor Terry Sullivan.

Consumer Reports warns that these lenses do have some drawbacks and won’t necessarily give you perfect pictures. For example, if you’re using the fish-eye lens, the edges of the pictures won’t be clear, and there isn’t an image stabilization feature, which can compensate for any slight hand movements.

Photojournalist and BCIT instructor Alan Waterman paid close to $300 for his triple lens package from iPro Lens System. However, when you consider that the price for a traditional camera lens can potentially be hundreds if not thousands of dollars, the price can seem more reasonable.

“It’s for people who want a little bit more professional quality,” said Waterman. “You get what you pay for.”

Consumers should also keep in mind that most of these lenses are designed to fit iPhones, and there are not as many lenses available that fit Androids. If you’re planning to use a lens, you might need to remove your phone case depending on the model, and the more inexpensive lenses will cover up the phone’s flash. There are flash attachments available, such as the Xuma Mobile LED for about $45.