02 Nov Review: Sandmarc Phone Lenses for Macro Photography and Telephoto
Macro Photography with a mobile phone?
Is that even possible?
There are actually quite a few different solutions for mobile Macro Photography
One of them are dedicated clip-on/screw-on Macro lenses to be used with your phone´s camera.
The Sandmarc 100mm lens is one of those and more.
Let´s find out if the Sandmarc Macro lens (and the Sandmarc product ecosystem) is a true alternative to a real camera in the following review.
Sandmarc 100mm Macro Lens for Mobile Phones
I have tried half a dozen mobile phone macro lenses in the past years, from super cheap, to moderately prized, to expensive ones.
The Sandmarc 100mm Macro lens is the most expensive one (129,99 USD) and the quality can be felt instantly.
Made from solid aluminium with a beautiful matte black finish, the lens offers up to 12x magnification.
There is also a 25mm Macro lens (99,99 USD) available, with 10x.
The 100mm macro lens is intended to be used with iPhones and the available dedicated phone case (49,99 USD).
With other mobile phone brands it can be used via a clip mount, so there is no actual restriction regarding the mobile phone models.
Using the case mount however, attaching and handling it, is considerably more convenient.
There is no struggle placing the clip (and lens) to the correct position (phone lens) when using the case, which lets you take photos a lot faster.
For this review i have tested the lenses with 3 different mobile phones of different quality ranges: iPhone 14, Oppo Find X2 Pro, Redmi Note 13 5G.
With the iPhone 14 I have used both the case and the mounting-clip.
Using the Sandmarc 100mm Macro Lens
Using a Macro lens on your mobile phone significantly reduces your depth-of-field.
That is just natural for a Macro lens and also applies for bigger camera systems.
However, this makes handling your phone and lens a challenge.
Finding focus in your subject will be harder, as you will notice.
Another challenge we face is, that we need a lot of light to bring out the details in the best way possible and capture a razor sharp image.
Getting great results hence depends on finding the best situation and circumstances for your photo.
If you manage to create a controlled environment for the photo, the results of the Sandmarc 100mm Macro lens can actually be impressive.
With its high quality, multi-coated optical glass, distortions and chromatic abberations are reduced to the minimum.
As you can get closer to your subjects, the background of your scene will be appear more out-of-focus and allows to be creative.
Just like portraits with wide open apertures, this lets you create images with beautiful bokeh.
The minimum focusing distance of the Sandmarc 100mm is 53mm.
It makes sense to use the Macro lens with your phone´s telephoto lens to get as close as possible.
If the mobile photo has a dedicated macro function, use this one and compare, which gives you the desired effect.
You can further enhance the magnification by zooming in via the camera app.
Funnily enough I enjoyed using the phone macro lens with abstract subjects more than for capturing bigger objects or even insects.
Photographing color in a water glass, details of leaf veins, textures on metal, lichen and rock is where the shallow depth-of-field is real fun.
Contrary to a DSLR camera system actually, where I feel the opposite.
Try the following tips for best results to get used to such a lens:
- Stabilize your camera/phone
- Experiment with additional (artificial lighting)
- Bring your phone parallel to the subject to cover the focus plane
- Try photographing flat subjects (from a direct angle)
- Try to avoid direct sunlight on your subject to prevent burned highlights
Tip: for best control and results, see if your phone camera software has a dedicated macro option. Use manual focus.
With the iPhone 14, for example, you have to enable the Macro Control in the camera settings – this will enhance the focusing abilities of your camera through the additional lens.
The lens comes with:
- Clip-on mount
- Lens pouch
- Front & back lens caps
Image Quality
The image quality depends on three factors mostly:
- your mobile phone´s camera
- your additional lens quality
- lighting and movement.
If your phone has great close-up capabilities already, that is a good starting point.
While cheap additional glass will reduce the optical quality, a high-standard lens can maintain great quality even though additional glass is added.
Both the iPhone and the 100mm lens will not be the problem here, so the most important factor is the lighting and potential movement or shaking of both the photographer and the subject.
This will make or break a great result.
Try to find support while photographing or filming with the phone-macro-lens-combo.
Use an additional LED video light for better lighting and try to diffuse it for the best results.
Filming Macro Videos with the Sandmarc 100mm Macro Lens
While I really enjoy photographing the macro world, there is something even more fascinating to macro videos, in my opinion.
Photos can capture and show details just perfectly, but the aspect of the movement gets lost here.
This is, where the Sandmarc 100mm Macro Lens really got me hooked: for shooting Macro Videos.
I am far from being a professional videographer, but I enjoy shooting the tiny creatures a lot, even though it is very challenging as I have to get close to very small, moving subjects, often without good lighting.
Staying on track here and not giving up is worth it, though.
I´ll keep on experimenting – it´s great fun!
Read more and/or buy your Sandmarc Macro lens in the Sandmarc Online Shop, here.
Sandmarc Telephoto 6x Lens for Mobile Phones
If you want to be flexible with your mobile phone photography, you can get a complete set of different lenses.
Another one, which I found has a lot of use cases, is the Sandmarc 6x Telephoto lens (159,99 USD), which upgrades your phone´s long-range capabilities considerably.
Just like the Macro lens, the Telephoto lens is very well made and features an aluminium barrel.
A highlight is its adjustable focus ring for precise control, which gives you the feel of a true DSLR tele lens.
With the fixed focal length it creates nice bokeh backgrounds, a shallow depth-of-field and intensifies foreground-background separation.
For portraits, this creates really impressive results.
It works best with the perfectly customized phone cases, where you can screw the lens right in, for improved stability and handling.
With the lens thread it can also be attached via the Sandmarc mobile phone clip but I recommend using the case.
The Telephoto 6x comes with a threaded filter mount and can be used with the range of Sandmarc filters.
When it comes to the optical quality, the lens renders sharp images, when stabilized.
Chromatic abberations are reduced, even compared to the native camera photos.
For best results it is important to stabilize the phone (and lens) in some way (especially in low light conditions).
This can be the use of a tripod, a bean bag, or simply finding some support for your hand.
Read more and/or buy your Sandmarc Telephoto 6x lens in the Sandmarc Online Shop, here.
Sandmarc Mobile Phone Photography Travel Backpack
Recently Sandmarc also released a travel backpack (for 249,99 USD), designed to enhance your phone photography experience and close a “gap” according to the brand.
It is both some kind of city explorer or light travel backpack and at the same time has features specifically designed for your phone photography gear.
A remarkable number of compartments have enough space for all your iPhone photography gear, travel, outdoor and tech essentials.
The backpack is made from 840D Ballistic Nylon (upper) and Weather Resistance Tarpaulin (lower), tailored for what Sandmarc identified as missing from other backpacks.
Features of the Sandmarc Travel Backpack
- Compartments for Lenses, Filters & Gear
- Shoulder strap iPhone holder for POV Capture
- 840D Ballistic Nylon & YKK® Zippers
- Aluminum Hardware
- Expandable from 25L to 30.5L
- Luggage pass-through
- Fits MacBook 16″, iPad 12.9″ , AirPods, AirTag, & iPhone
- Large compartment
On paper there is lots of room for all the mentioned gear and clothing.
Everything can be organized nicely in the compartments.
The backpack does deliver on the promises.
It is optimized to provide tailored space for your phone photography kit and your everyday belongings.
There is also enough room to take a gimbal, small tripod and whatever else you might need for content creation.
If you need your hands free but don´t want to stop recording with your phone, or would like to capture POV footage, there is a front facing pouch, that will take your iPhone safely but not cover the lenses.
This is just one example of many, that shows how much the backpack is focused on mobile phone integration.
I wish the main compartment could be opened completely, but the side pockets are blocking it.
Those pockets are actually great as they can be expanded, but at the same time I somehow wish they were not there, or executed differently.
A pro on the other hand, is the very stable top handle, an additional Duffle carry handle and the option to attach the backpack to a suitcase via its middle strap on the backside.
I actually like the shoulder straps and the very flexible breast support belt A LOT, as they feel very comfortable.
Everything can be tucked away, no fiddling, handling the backpack is super smooth.
It features a smart slide-lock-mechanism, which is also magnetic as well.
There are quite some nice gimmicks like that, incorporated in the backpack design.
The rather stiff backside of the backpack and its overall stiffness however, somewhat interferes with this impression.
If the actual backpack-compartment would be more flexible and less like a “box”, this would improve my verdict on the backpack by 100%.
Using an all-around-zipper (all zippers weather-sealed by the way) the main compartment volume can be increased.
It successfully closes the aforementioned gap – but unfortunately opens up another one at the same time.
Chances are high you are also owning a camera system if you are a content creator, which the backpack does not have specific compartments for.
Having some kind of an optional photography gear cube would at least offer a solution.
The backpack feels to be too forcefully specialized on the mobile phone gear.
If that is what you are looking for – a travel backpack for mobile gear mainly – then it is a great solution.
Fun fact: the Sandmarc Telephoto 6x lens does not fit into the 4 small compartments in the inside – BUT, to be fair, there are more than enough other places to store this.
As it is optimized for luggage pass-through, it´s a nice travel companion on short trips.
It is not a full-feature photography backpack – keep that in mind, depending on what you are looking for.
You can read more about and buy the Sandmarc Travel Backpack in the Sandmarc Online Shop, here.
Conclusion
Are phone lenses a real alternative to a true digital camera?
It depends!
It depends on your expectations, the use of these lenses, and the desired results.
As a mobile solution that will get you closer than the on-board lens of your mobile phone, the Sandmarc Macro lens is great.
In comparison to other (the considerasbly cheaper brands in particular) phone lenses, the Sandmarc 100mm Macro is superior both in optical quality and in build quality.
The same goes for the 6x Telephoto lens, which increases your range a lot.
To get really good results, you have to use them in the best situation and with the best setup.
This means, stabilized, in optimal (maybe even artificial) lighting conditions and on static objects preferrably.
An important factor for best results is the mobile phone´s actual camera obviously!
You should also be aware, that you will not be able to print these images as big as you could do with your digital camera photos.
For online use the quality is good though.
Personally, I think the Sandmarc 100mm Macro lens is particularly interesting for shooting close-up videos.
This is where I will experiment in the future.
Info: I mentioned I have tried out other Phone lenses as well.
These were (ordered from best to worst):
– Sandmarc 100mm Macro Lens
– Apexel HD 100mm Macro Lens
– SIRUI MC-02 10X Macro Lens
– Various China Brand Lenses
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