Black Eye Pro Kit G4

As much as I would love to carry my DSLR everywhere it is not always practical, when backpacking it is a bulky thing to carry, in some places I was encouraged to keep it hidden due to potential theft and when taking walks in the countryside the added weight can hinder the feeling of freedom.

Thankfully the cameras on our phones have skyrocketed in quality over the last few years and accessories like the Black Eye Pro Kit G4 can give you even more shooting options at a fraction of the cost, weight and size of DSLR lens. If you are prepared for a reduction in functions and quality, shooting with your phone and these lenses can be a lot of fun, the G4 kit comes included with the Black Eye Pro Portrait Tele G4, Pro Fisheye G4 and Pro Cinema Wide G4 all tucked away in a high quality protective zip up travel case coupled with a solid carabiner hook.

All these lenses are created with premium materials as you would expect from the asking price, they all come pre attached to a clothes-peg style mount that means they can be attached to almost any smart phone camera. There is a full list of compatible phones on the Black Eye website, chances are if you have a single lens and flat surface area it will work perfectly, some of the raised cameras and multiple lenses can be a little harder to attach but most will still work ok. The peg mounts are very strong and secure that once in place it doesn’t slide about even if the phone gets shaken about a bit, they are equally sturdy enough to clip on your pocket or clothing for easy access.

The Pro Fisheye G4 gives you a 180degree shot with those distinctive curved edges suitable for wide landscapes or selfies as well as giving you that GoPro look when used during action and sports shots. The 120degree Pro Cinema Wide G4 gives you a wide-angle view, there is a little distortion around the edges with softer corners, but a consistently sharp centre makes for an interesting image but was our least favourite of the three. The clear winner for us was the Pro Portrait Tele G4 with a 60mm focal length equivalent you get 2.5x closer to your subject, whether that’s your pet, dinner or mountains in the distance the optical zoom will get you closer without losing detail and draw attention to your subject with a shallower depth of field.

This lens was the most versatile and the one we found ourselves using the most, the images really popped and there was no distortion in the frame and I worked on the front facing camera just as well as the rear, it could also easily be used on your tablet or laptop camera. This little kit doesn’t come cheap so it’s worth considering if you will use all three of the lenses as they are also sold separately (as well as the Macro and the Wide G4). We were really impressed with the strength of the clips and high quality craftmanship of the lenses, this handy kit can up open up your phones camera to different shooting styles letting you take a wider range of images without lugging along bulky cameras and heavy lenses. RRP €249.90

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