The HTC EVO's 8-megapixel rear camera can produce some pretty outstanding close-up pictures (I think this one is particularly impressive), but it isn't capable of taking true macros.
Not without help, that is.
Enter the magnet-mounted macro lens designed for cell phones and digital cameras. There are several different brands and types of these lenses available on Amazon
The lens I have is a wide/macro combination that can be separated so that the macro lens can be used alone, but I believe there are macro-only lenses out there too.
This lens comes with a plastic cap for the larger wide angle lens, two metal rings that can be affixed to devices that don't havemagnetic material around their lenses, and a powerful magnetic cover attached to a short lanyard to protect the bottom of the lens.
Without using one of the metal rings, which I refused to do since it looks terrible, the wide angle lens falls off the EVO (it's too heavy), which makes it useless unless you want to hold it in place when snapping a picture.
The macro lens, on the other hand, will stay in place if you don't jostle it around too much.
There's no "trick" to using the lens. Just get close to your subject, wait for it to focus, press the shutter button, and voila! Look at this unaltered picture of a penny I took using the lens:
Here are some additional samples I took to illustrate how much better macro photos can be with a magnetic macro lens.
In the following set:
- The top photo is the best possible close-up I could take with the EVO's rear camera.
- The middle photo is an attempted macro shot taken without the macro lens.
- The bottom photo is taken with the macro lens from the same distance as the previous attempt.
In the next set of images, both photos were taken from the same distance away from the subject. The top pictures are obviously the ones taken without the macro lens.
All the images were taken with the HTC EVO 4G (default camera settings only) and have not been altered. The only things I did to the 8-megapixel unedited images were resize and watermark them, so if anything, the quality you see above is degraded.
The macro images aren't perfect, sure, but considering that they were taken with nothing more than the HTC EVO 4G and a small magnetic macro lens, I'd say they're pretty amazing.
Those are amazing pics taken with the macro. Detailed close-ups have been an annoying issue. For the Evo did/could you actually use any of the rings to affix to the camera or just the magnet? Thanks
wow…very impressive
What was the closest distance that you got with that macro lens? Was the flash of use or did it get in the way?
Just the magnet.
About 1.5 centimeters is the closest you can get before things get blurry.
The flash was never used and never got it in the way.
Wow. Might have to pick one of these up…Thanks!
thats awesome…i think ill pick one up… dealextreme has them for $10.37 free shipping
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14953
Did the macro lens scratch the glass over the sensor on the Evo?
Thanks! Amazing pictures.
@ rob said. Thanks! Order placed. ^_^
Would this work on a Google Nexus One?
nice work, a fun upgrade to the EVO
what about HTC Desire, will this work?
Just ordered one as well. Thanks!
P.S. Thanks to Jenn for the great posts and the amazing site!
What I’d kill for is a slide over macro lens like the “Clarifi” lens I had on my iPhone. Anything like this in the works? It really did work wonders, and it was totally unobtrusive.
like so: http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/clarifi
Pretty cool. I have a jeweler’s lens that I’ve played around with. It works amazing!
rt Charlie Tanner; Would this work on the Nexus One too?
DealExtreme has great prices, but they often take months to ship things out – it’s a bit of a crap shoot.
I’d recommend ordering the same thing from an eBay seller – like this auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/0-67X-Wide-Angle-Macro-Lens-Camera-Cell-Phone-/400121609154?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d291b3bc2#ht_2570wt_991
$10.50 with free shipping. I think $0.13 is a fair premium to pay to know that the seller will ship your item in the next day or two (if their feedback is any indication).
Dude! You killed an ant!
*shrug* I’ve used dealextreme quite a few times and it’s never taken longer than 2 weeks to receive my order. Even if it does take a while, I’m not in much of a hurry. Thanks for the link though!
thanks! just ordered it
Make this for the Nexus One and I’d buy it!
Doesn’t the N1 have a metal casing on its camera? Shouldn’t it work just fine for it?
Are there any concerns with putting magnets near the screen/your phone?
Will this work for helping shoot in dark light conditions, like at a concert in a night club?
Where can I Buy it?
Works on the incredible too I assume? The original lens on the incredible is removable so maybe the lens can be put even closer for a smaller profile or someone will create a capable lens for the evo or the incredible
Can you actually affix the larger lens with the rings? Also will the magnet hold for the small one, or will i need to hold it in place? Thanks
@rob said… thanks for the link, i can totally rationalize buying a couple of these.
son i am proud
Anyone tested this with an incredible?
It’s Rock Man.. LIke This
@Ryan: I’m a little concerned, but I’ve had magnetic holsters for PDAs before. If you were using the lens on the FRONT camera, you’d be right to worry. On the back, the most that would happen would be a slight degradation to the battery up-time — less than a minute per 24 hrs of exposure.
A few seconds of a magnet on the lens? No.
DO WANT!!!!
I just received a package from DX in 7 days. Hopefully they will repeat that process with this order.
Does it works only on the HTC Evo, or with all the smartphone ? like HTC Hero for me. ( Sorry for the english i’m french ^^ )
I bought the one from eBay from the same seller referenced above. I purchased it for the HTC Incredible. I’ll let everyone know if it works for the Incredible when I get it.
Here’s an active auction for the same lens:
http://cgi.ebay.com/0-67X-Wide-Angle-Macro-Lens-For-Camera-Cell-Phone_W0QQitemZ350365581608
I got one from https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14953 ($10!) and love it. Checkout my first shot with it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/manalang/4736877518/
Great find! Thanks!
Where did you order yours?
Hey, just bought this for my EVO and the macro lens won’t stay on. Any thoughts or tricks?
Did you use the magnet set up? I used the”big” lens with no issue. Have yet to use the macro
I had the same problems with mine. It just wouldn’t stick without sticking one of the magnets to the phone first, and the magnet is really isn’t big enough for the lens.
If anyone finds a bigger washer magnet to use instead, let us know.
Just got the 2.2 update. Before 2.2, I still couldn’t get the barcode scanner to work, even with the macro+wide lens.
Now with 2.2, barcode scanner finally works decently with macro+wide, though it still doesn’t without.
I just got this macro/wide angle lens combo from Ebay for $10! Shipping included. I normally don’t get anything out of China, but I could not bring myself to pay $40 from Amazon.
I must say that the lens’ work great. Has anyone found a good way to attach and re-attach the lens to the phone?
I am thinking of maybe modifyin a Livestrong wrist band or something.
Chris,
How are you attaching/detaching now? i had to carry mine around and detach when done. I also purchased mine from Ebay. There is a sticker that adheres the magnet or metal ring around the lens, and that ring is what is “attracting” the lens to the camera. Even with the big one it didn’t move or fall off. What did yours come with? Or were you looking for another way to attach/detach?
I have now tried ordering this lens from two separate companies. First from Sourcingmap.com, after waiting 15 business days for it to arrive, it didn’t. They refunded my money and then I proceeded to order from dealtoworld.com who said it should take 7-10 days to arrive. It’s now been 10 business days and I have not received my macro lens from this company either. Just be warned if ordering from these companies. Now I have to find a macro lens from somewhere else.
I had a similar experience. I got mine off Ebay. It actually came faster than my refund was processed from another company. Price was so nice I bought 2 just in case.
I am going to buy some of these and sell them to my friends. I havent gotten my evo yet but when I do it is going to to take thousands of pictures.
This looks like a lot of fun… ordering one right now. Even if it doesn’t work, $10 is worth the experiment.
So please forgive (something I should probably know) my question about the lenses.
There’s .67 and .45 lenses out there. I presume the .67 is MORE magnification?
works great stuck to my Otterbox commuter with some Good ol’ JB Weld
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=820618
sigh. thought I would try to save some coin and order from dealextreme. 12 (business) days since i ordered and still no macro. this is the second time i’ve ordered from them. no more. sigh.
sigh. thought I would try to save some coin and order from dealextreme. 12 (business) days since i ordered and still no macro. this is the second time i’ve ordered from them. no more. sigh.
Does anyone know of a lens that will give me a better shot for more distant shots? I took some pictures at a wedding and only a few of my shots came out any good…I am going to get this lens system but wondering if there is anything like this out there for the EVO http://www.wantowle.com/
Jenn, I really appreciate your review of the macro lenses for EVO. My HTC Hero took amazing closeups once the settings were adjusted properly. When I upgraded recently to the EVO, I was disappointed when I couldn’t find similar settings. An after-market macro lens is just what Dr. EVO ordered.
Does anyone know if ebay still has an EVO-compatible macro lens for $10? I found only one offering, from a Hong Kong supplier for $16.99, free shipping.
Ordered from Deal Extreme months ago and they claimed it was shipped out on 11/182010. I still have not received the lens. They kept telling me 2 more weeks, another 2 more weeks. Now, they will not respond to me. I’m out my $10+, never received the lens, and NO Resolution.
Save yourself the trouble and Do Not order from DX.t
Thanks naomi, I was just about to order from dealextreme too. Where did you pick yours up from Jenn?
.
Has anyone tried this with the Evo 3D? Any feedback?
I’m more interested in wide angle, is there anything that actually stays on the phone? I don’t mind having to attach additional stuff. Evo4g
Anybody tried this (or any other add-on lens) with the HTC Thunderbolt?