Many of us love capturing pictures from our smartphones. Be it at a party, during travel, or simply while getting bored at office, the handy smartphone always comes to the rescue for those who love to play with the lens. While modern manufacturers have started laying more emphasis on smartphones with better megapixel cameras, it is not feasible to change your device often. For the love of smartphone photography, we bring to you a list of accessories which will help you make the most of the camera on your existing smartphone and let you capture even better pictures.
1. Lenses
Whether you have a 13 megapixel rear camera or a 5 megapixel front snapper, add-on lenses allow you to experiment more with your available smartphone lens. Similar to the standalone DSLR cameras, the lenses for smartphones too come in a variety of ranges; from wide angle to zoom, macro, and fisheye. When you purchase these clip-on lenses, you must make sure that they are compatible with your device and fit perfectly.
2. Add-on flash
Smartphones are not usually an ideal choice when it comes to night photography. However, add-on flashes can be useful in such situations. These flashes are extremely compact as they fit in the 3.5mm jack of your smartphone and help you capture the best of night portraits without a separate camera. You can go creative with the spotlights which provide continuous lighting and let you shoot videos or capture images in low-light situations. The Lenovo Vibe Xtension Selfie Flash and Asus LolliFlash are some of the examples.
3. Waterproof casing
Whether it's a camera or a smartphone, we never risk to dunk ourselves into the waters just to get that undersurface frame right. Even as there are waterproof smartphones available in the market, it again is about the question of affordability. Waterproof casing, especially meant for underwater photography, will let you take your smartphone scuba diving and capture amazing shots with no loss to your prized gadget.
4. Selfie sticks
Smartphones and selfies are meant to be together and a dedicated selfie stick is just what is needed. Selfie-sticks have become ubiquitous these days with the crazed love for self-portraits. Even as the world’s biggest destinations are banning the narcissism-inducing accessory, selfie sticks offer comfortable grip on the smartphone and provide almost perfect frames without the unflattering arm in between.
5. Tripod
Whether you have your own YouTube channel or want to simply shoot a video resume, a smartphone tripod won’t make your video seem shaky or unflatteringly framed. Tripods for smartphones offer you steady shots or videos at the cost of a selfie stick.
6. Viewfinder
A smartphone viewfinder is especially helpful when you want to capture images in bright outdoors. Similar to a DSLR, a viewfinder for smartphones is placed over the display and one needs to hold the smartphone closer to the eyes and capture images. It basically cuts down on distortions and helps you better frame your shots. These viewfinders come with complementary apps to let you better manage the camera.
7. Remote camera trigger
A Bluetooth smartphone camera trigger is another add-on accessory you could consider including in your smartphone photography kit. This small device connects to your iOS or Android smartphone with Bluetooth and lets you control the shutter from a distance. You can also consider using it along with a selfie stick that doesn’t come with a remote shutter button. Though there are some phones that offer gesture-contorlled features in the camera app, but then you may not have one of those phones.
8. Smartphone mount
Similar to a tripod, but more compact, a mount for a smartphone is more useful if you plan to take shots-in-motion. You can either choose a bike mount or a table mount based on your requirement. Just clip one on your bicycle’s handle and you have a GoPro-like solution ready without spending a fortune.
9. External camera
Other than lenses, a remote camera, like Sony’s smartphone attachable lens-style camera, can serve as an alternative to traditional SLRs yet offer you similar quality images via your smartphone. The lens in itself can store images which can be viewed through a paired smartphone. When mounted to a smartphone, it can function as a lens and when detached, offers you more flexibility and lets you capture remotely.
10. Microphone
Especially useful when you plan to record videos, the external microphone can be inserted directly into your smartphone’s 3.5mm jack and help you record with crisper audio. You can either go for a mini microphone or a wired one for more flexibility.
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