With over five years of developing photography gear for Apple, DJI, and GoPro under its belt, SANDMARC has now released a new lens for iPhone. Made with filmmaking in mind, the SANDMARC Anamorphic Lens captures ultra-wide video with lens flare effects to produce video similar to what’s seen in high-end productions.
SANDMARC Anamorphic Lens: ‘cinema-like videos’ shot on iPhone
The oval-shaped SANDMARC Anamorphic Lens is able to capture 1.33 times more horizontal content than what’s typically possible with standard cameras. This extra content yields a 2.4:1 aspect ratio. Since an iPhone is incapable of shooting at this odd aspect ratio, videos will look a bit distorted until processed in a mobile app like Filmic Pro, or Adobe Premier on a desktop.
An aluminum exterior surrounds the lens, providing a lightweight form-factor that should also prove to be durable. The glass used is multi-element, multi-coated and anti-reflective. The company touts that the culmination of all of these factors deliver ‘superior performance’.
Inspired by high-end products, the SANDMARC Anamorphic Lens brings lens flare effects which appear similar to what you’d see when watching top-tier films. This feature is automatic and will take effect when the lens captures headlights, streetlights, and other hard light sources in dark environments.
Pricing and availability
The SANDMARC Anamorphic Lens comes with an iPhone case, clip-on mount, lens cap, and pouch for $159.99. Pricing is comparable to competitor offerings, but the inclusion additional accessories like an iPhone case makes the SANDMARC Anamorphic Lens a slightly better value for those just getting started. Available for order now, SANDMARC has a slew of options that can accommodate several of the most recent iPhones.
9to5Toys’ Take
Unlike Moment, the SANDMARC Anamorphic Lens is only compatible with iPhone. This is a bit of a shame, considering that Google’s latest (and affordable) Pixel devices sport stellar cameras. That being said, iPhone is still one of the best smartphones for shooting video as it is capable of capturing 4K60, unlike any Google Pixel and many other Android alternatives.
Shooting photos and video on smartphones is extremely popular and a lot of companies are expanding their lineups of aftermarket lens attachments. This makes the space quite competitive and helps ensure that releases from SANDMARC, Moment, and olloclip continue to innovate and drive the quality of smartphone footage to new heights. Only time will tell if the new SANDMARC Anamorphic Lens is an accessory worth carrying, but our review of its wide lens leads us to be quite optimistic.
FTC: 9to5Toys is reader supported, we may earn income on affiliate links
Subscribe to the 9to5Toys YouTube Channel for all of the latest videos, reviews, and more!
