Zeiss comes with a lens attachment for iPhone

Zeiss and ExoLens, maker of lens attachments for iPhones, are collaborating to bring a range of attachments to the mobile phone market. The Zeiss lenses for the ExoLens accessory will initially be released for the iPhone 6 series.

The first three Zeiss lenses that fit the ExoLens holder from manufacturer Fellowes will be on the market at the end of the second quarter of 2016, Zeiss writes on its site. Initially, it concerns three lenses: a macro, a wide-angle and a telephoto lens. ExoLens has long been known as a maker of photo accessories for the iPhone, but so far has only used lenses produced under its own name.

Zeiss has provided its lenses with a matte black aluminum body with Zeiss’ T* coating on the lenses. The lenses are made for an aluminum ExoLens holder, to which a standard tripod can also be screwed. The wide-angle lens has a magnification of 0.6, comparable to an 18mm focal length on a full-frame camera, and the telephoto lens gets objects up to twice as close, comparable to a 58mm lens, DPReview writes. The lenses have a fixed focus setting. The wide-angle lens is sharp from 50cm to infinity and the telephoto lens from 36mm to infinity.

Sample photos, source: Zeiss

The macro lens offers the possibility to take pictures from 30 to 78mm, with the focal length becoming comparable to 40-80mm. The design of the lens receives the Vario-Proxar label from Zeiss, where Vario stands for being able to adjust the focal length and Proxar for proximity. Zeiss supplies an accessory in the form of a transparent attachment ring, which can serve as a spacer between the lens and the object.

No pricing has yet been announced. Sample photos can be found on the Zeiss site.