Related
You're beautiful and everyone knows it. That's why you take selfies. Rate this thread to express how the front-facing camera of the OnePlus 3T performs. A higher rating indicates that the front camera produces fantastic results consistently.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
If light is very good, acceptable selfies. Indoors, even with good light, usually very blurry shots
Indoors, nothing but TV for light and taken straight from Allo
At low light in front of my monitor:
beautify mode of the cam/app is the best, makes my ugly face so sweet !
for real, its pretty decent (the front cam).
With 16mp front camera the photos look crisp and sharp. Nothing bad to say about it.
Seems fine with or without beauty mode it's almost same for me
absolutely amazing with the 16m front camera
View attachment 4068949
Studio Lighting, Edited.
View attachment 4068951
Walmart Lighting, Edited.
View attachment 4068952
Studio Lighting, NO EDIT.
View attachment 4068957
Car Lighting, NO EDIT.
I recently went on a trip with a selfie stick...front facing camera turned out to be pretty bad...they all turned out kind of like this one:
https://goo.gl/photos/cpev9cRgS4TEnhQs8
Some look better than others, but everything looks soft and out of focus...is this normal?
sm753 said:
I recently went on a trip with a selfie stick...front facing camera turned out to be pretty bad...they all turned out kind of like this one:
https://goo.gl/photos/cpev9cRgS4TEnhQs8
Some look better than others, but everything looks soft and out of focus...is this normal?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The front facing camera has fixed focus, made so that the subject is in focus when the phone is at arms length. this photo looks like it was taken with a selfie stick so you were not in focus.
yohouse2 said:
The front facing camera has fixed focus, made so that the subject is in focus when the phone is at arms length. this photo looks like it was taken with a selfie stick so you were not in focus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that explains it...are you aware of any work around for this? I imagine the limitation is the software.
sm753 said:
Well that explains it...are you aware of any work around for this? I imagine the limitation is the software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe that it it a hardware limitation, so I'm not sure how a software upgrade or any workaround might help significantly. Maybe you might want to try the back camera instead or use the front camera at arms length, or be somehow lucky to find a clip-on lens that can either increase the camera's field while somehow still keeping the correct focus distance or a clip-on lens that will correct the focus when the device is on the selfie stick.
Good!
The front camera is really good. Clean and bright selfies. Love it.
Amazing, outstanding camera quality...
Such a awesome phone. It have best camera that is very useful for taking high resolution selfies.
low light sux
Well lit ok
Camera driver
How to develop camera driver? What are the things one should know for device driver development?
Say "cheese", then rate this thread to express how photos taken with the Moto Z2 Play come out. A higher rating indicates that photos offer rich color (without over-saturating), sharp detail (with all subjects in-focus), and appropriate exposure (with even lighting).
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
The moto z2 camera has a lot of noise in anything except the brightest light. Seems like it uses a very high iso
rickykemp said:
The moto z2 camera has a lot of noise in anything except the brightest light. Seems like it uses a very high iso
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Normally under not-so-good light conditions the night mode kicks-in and it helps a lot. The noise is hardly noticeable then, it can be seen only on specifically coloured surfaces like dark furniture.
That's why I went for Hasselblad mod, its xenon flash (if you know how to use it, of course...) allows to take great photos. But it requires some time to learn how to use manual settings and control flash strength; then it's possible to get nice, not overexposed photos with nice light balance in them.
Looks like it has quite good image stabilization. Just did this movie today and I am impressed.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/smaqUb8zPgXuG8fE9
The Z2 Play has a pretty good camera but I expected as such: it's using a rebranded sensor that's just the camera sensor from the Galaxy S7 without OIS. F/1.7 means a nice wide aperture for some good bokeh without really needing to add artificial lens blurring a la portrait mode that everyone seems to really love nowadays.
The lack of OIS, Snapdragon 626's only decent image processing, as well as the fact that Motorola still kinda sucks with image processing on their end holds the the Z2 Play from having a great camera. It's still good however and with great lighting and a still hand, you can take some really nice shots. Night shots are alright though the lack of OIS means you'll be better off using a tripod or gimbal if you don't want your photos going all noise city on ya.
I have the same sony camera as "better photo quality" solution.
***WARNING*** EXTREMELY LONG REVIEW ***WARNING***
TLDR:
If you’re serious about your photos, but don’t want to buy a dedicated camera, the lenses from Sirui offer so much versatility and creativity to the Pixel 3 - a phone that is already one of the best point and shoots in the world. After spending a week taking photos with them on vacation, I believe they are absolutely worth every penny!
Introduction:
I love photography - full stop. But I can’t stand the thought of spending $2,000 on a dedicated camera and another $2,000 on lenses and accessories. Plus, carrying all of that around doesn’t sound fun either. This is why I started using my phone’s camera as my primary shooter. The results of smartphone cameras have improved dramatically in the past 2-3 years to the point where I am proud to share my photos online with regularity. Granted, there is still only so much a fixed focal length lens on a smartphone can ever do – even if that smartphone is a Pixel. Enter, the moment lenses… (but wait, I thought this review was about Sirui lenses?!) Hang on. Sometimes we have to go back before we can go forward; we’ll get there…
Background:
Ever since the original Google Pixel was released, the camera was praised and lauded as the premier smartphone camera in the industry. At the time, I was not in the market for a new phone, but my mom was, so I suggested the Pixel to her. She loved it for more than just the camera, but every photo she sent to me just blew me away. It felt unfair that her phone took so much better pictures than mine. So, I decided to do what many of us tech enthusiasts do, and went online looking for deals on the Google Pixel. In case you don’t remember, the original Pixel did NOT have many (if any) promotions during its first 6 months on the market, making it very difficult for me to pull the trigger on a purchase – especially since I’m not a Verizon customer, nor will I ever be (that’s a topic for another review). Because of this struggle to find a deal, enough time passed to where I started hearing rumors about the Pixel 2. It was time to be patient and play the waiting game.
Months later, the Pixel 2 was announced and Google shocked the world with the highest DXO Mark score of any phone EVER – 98! (Yes, I know DXO scores are not the only way to judge camera performance, but this improvement was notable at the time). This score was up from the 89 that the original Pixel scored and knowing how impressed I was with the original, I immediately clicked ADD TO CART. The photos I was able to produce with the Pixel 2 were nothing less than INCREDIBLE. At family gatherings, family members would throw their iPhones aside and beg me to take pictures for them because my phone took such great photos. I was more and more impressed with each shot that I took with this phone. I would even try to take photos of increasingly challenging scenes just to see how far I could push the camera; intentionally breaking the rules of photography by shooting into direct sunlight, or seeking out areas of poor lighting, only to be in awe of the results every time. But these high flying feelings didn’t last forever.
Eventually, I started to get a little bored; bored by how easy it was to take a great photo, bored by how little editing was required to make each photo share-worthy, and simply bored by taking the same types of photos, just in different locations - portrait, landscape, flower, food, repeat. After a year of the greatest smartphone camera experience ever, I became eager to upgrade to the Pixel 3 to recapture that initial magic which my Pixel 2 seemed to have lost. But I was instantly disappointed; not by the Pixel 3’s camera performance, because it’s still class leading, but disappointed by the lack of “wow” factor that I felt with the Pixel 2. It didn’t have the same obvious improvement in photo quality thaw we saw from the original Pixel to the Pixel 2. I was temporarily wowed by the new Night Sight feature - which is pure magic if you ask me, but its use cases are limited and the older Pixels have that feature too. I finally turned to the internet to look for inspiration and found increasingly frequent articles and videos touting the advantages of Moment lenses.
These Moment lens advertisements *ahem* articles and video reviews showed me a new world of photographic possibilities that I simply could not replicate with with my Pixel 2 or 3 alone. They could take portrait photos with natural bokeh without any edge detection failures, and they could take breathtaking wide angle shots to give the scene more drama than the standard focal length lens. And finally, they had a macro lens which I thought would be a game changer. You can always zoom in/out with your feet, but the details that can be seen with a macro lens cannot be imitated. I had to have them! After browsing the Moment website for a moment (no pun intended), I was quickly turned off by the astronomical pricing for these lenses. I simply could not justify paying $100 per lens, plus another $30 for the case required to attach the lenses. After tax, it would have easily surpassed $350 for the set. The dream was dead.
Fast forward a couple months and I stumbled upon an article comparing the Moment lenses with a new lens kit from Rhinosheild. (Seriously - Rhinosheild?! Hurry up and get to the Sirui lenses already) Hang on, almost there... I was excited because these new lenses appeared to be much cheaper than Moment’s, but my excitement was quickly tempered by the side-by-side photo comparisons. IN the review, the Rhinosheild photos looked down right terrible. Somehow, their lenses made the camera’s photos look worse. I kept searching for alternatives and finally stumbled upon Sirui lenses. At the time, there were a handful of decent reviews for them and they were only a fraction of the cost of the Moment lenses. And to top it all off, they fit perfectly onto Moment brand cases. You know the drill by now… ADD TO CART!
The Review:
It took a while, but we’re finally at the review you were looking for. I purchased the Sirui 3-lens kit from Amazon for the grand total of $160 (before taxes) and I purchased the Moment case (wood grain model) for $30. Just in case you skipped the background, let me reiterate that the equivalent set from Moment (without a carrying case) would cost me over $330! The Sirui lens kit comes with 3 lenses (wide angle, portrait & macro), a hard shell carrying case, and a universal lens clip for those who don’t have a compatible phone case. Now of course, I braced myself for these lenses to be of marginal quality to help save on price. I held my breath as I opened the package and inspected the contents.
Build Quality - 5/5 Stars
To my pleasant surprise, they looked and felt very nice. The weight of the lenses was more substantial than I expected, and reassured me they were truly made of metal and glass. Although I’m not much of a fan of the bright red and blue colors for the macro and portrait lenses respectively, so far, neither appears as though the color would fade or chip easily. Scratches however are a real concern so I do not dare set these lenses down on any surface which is harder than a microfiber cloth. Speaking of which, the package includes a small microfiber cloth for cleaning the lenses as needed. It tucks away nicely into the sturdy and fairly rugged case which holds all 3 lenses. The case even has a metal clip/hook that can be secured to just about anything when traveling.
Wide Angle Lens - 4/5 Stars
The wide angle lens has a focal length of 18mm and doesn’t have that unnatural fisheye look of the original V-series LG phones. I’ve found it great to use for the following 3 scenarios:
When taking a picture of a landscape (obviously) or anything that’s too big or tall to fit within the view of the standard focal length. Turn the camera vertically to capture tall buildings or statues.
When taking pictures in a cramped space - real estate agents would love this to make any room look larger and more spacious; especially when you can’t step back any further for a better perspective.
When using the Pixel’s portrait mode - it allows for background blur without cropping in as far. This one isn’t my original idea. I found it on one of the reviews I read.
This lens has proven to be quite versatile; more so than I expected when I purchased it. The lens doesn’t overly distort the scene and the image looks clear and detailed almost all the way to the corners. I only gave it 4 stars though because I wish the focal length was just a hair wider. It may be personal preference, but maybe 16mm would be ideal for my use cases. I found that I could easily replicate the wide angle viewpoint in a few cases by taking just a few steps backward, making the lens less useful in those scenarios.
Portrait Lens - 5/5 Stars
I did not expect to be as impressed with this lens as I was. I was already using my Pixel 3 in portrait mode for background blur to great success, so having a dedicated portrait lens felt redundant. I was WRONG! The portrait lens creates such a smooth and natural background blur that is every bit as satisfying as a dedicated camera. The artificial bokeh (or fokeh) that smartphones are using just doesn’t compare. This lens is the largest and heaviest of the three, so it takes a bit more effort to balance the phone when taking photos. The 60mm focal length does place you much closer to your subject so taking a few steps back is often required, causing your amateur subject to wonder if you’re doing something wrong. I originally planned to give this lens only 4 stars because it does have one small “flaw” that I can find: it’s not exactly razor sharp, or at least, not as sharp as I expected it to be. Granted, it’s sharp enough, and probably just as sharp as the Pixel 3’s lens. But for no reason at all, I just expected the results to be sharper. The reason why I kept the 5 star rating, however, is because of the added benefit of the 60mm focal length. It offers a true optical zoom to the Pixel 3, which already has a fairly impressive digital zoom, and the combination of both offers significant reach that neither could provide alone. I’ve found that I can zoom in up to 8x without critical loss of detail. It’s a very capable lens. I can remove it for normal/wide angle shots, and put it back on for portrait or telephoto shots. If I could only carry one single lens, this would be the one.
Macro Lens - 4/5 Stars
Macro photography is an area where smartphones generally struggle. Software simply cannot overcome the minimum focus distance of the hardware, resulting in blurry photos when positioned too close to the subject. Some of the most dramatic photos can be achieved through macro photography, and this lens is the tool I needed to complete my smartphone photography journey. The Macro lens offers a 10x magnification (not zoom) of the subject so you can see every detail in a flower petal, drop of water, or grain of sand. It highlights details that are barely visible to my naked eye and really brings everyday objects to life. The lens even comes with a light diffusing, removable hood to prevent harsh shadows as you hold the phone so closely to your subject. Be careful though, as you have to hold the lense within 1-2 cm of the subject and risk scratching the lens by contact. I prefer to use the lens hood to help protect the lens. The moment I feel the hood touch my subject, I know not to get any closer. My only complaint is the SUPER shallow depth of field doesn’t allow me to take full advantage of the sensor area. I’m sure it is a standard characteristic of macro lenses, but I find that only the very center of my photo is in focus while the rest of the frame is quite blurry. This forces me to crop out half of my photo before sharing so that only the in-focus area is presented. With phone sensors being so small, cropping really sacrifices the final resolution of the photo.
Conclusion:
I took the Sirui Lens kit with me on a trip to Cancun recently and was able to get some fantastic shots that I absolutely would have not been able to achieve with the Pixel 3 alone. Even though my wife is pregnant, she was a willing model for me on our vacation. And if you know anything about most women, they can be very critical of how they look in photos. She came away from the experience quite impressed with the results and has even given me permission to share them with complete strangers on the internet. There is a link to an album of sample images at the end of this review.
Bottom line - if you are looking to take your smartphone photography to the next level, and aren’t willing to shell out the cash for a Moment lens system, give the Sirui lenses a shot (does that count as a pun?). As long as you don’t expect these lenses to turn your phone into a DSLR, then I doubt you’ll be disappointed. And as you can probably tell by my willingness to write this lengthy review, I certainly am not.
Bonus:
Moment Photo Case - 4/5 Stars
I am fairly impressed with the Moment Photo Case. It is offered for the Pixel 3 in three colors and I chose the black with wood grain backplate. It looked the classiest of the three to me and it certainly feels premium in the hand. It’s bulkier than the ultra thin X-level cases I typically use on my phone, but nowhere near as thick as an Otterbox Commuter or anything like that. The threaded connection for the lenses is super easy to use, requiring only a quarter turn to secure and release the lens. The lenses are also clearly marked in a way that helps you quickly align the threads. I docked it’s rating just a little for the price. In a world of $10 cases, $30 seems a bit steep, but is ultimately required to complete the experience. I also wish Moment made a battery case for the Pixel 3, as this would turn the phone and Sirui lens kit into the ultimate photography tool. Anyone who takes a bunch of photos knows the toll it takes on the battery. And due to the somewhat cumbersome nature of swapping lenses, you typically only carry them with you when you plan to take a lot of pictures. Hopefully, a Moment battery case will be developed some day. Do you think they’ll ever read this review?
Link to Sample Photos:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/HakfHBeif8FekCPv7
Hey, i'm interested in these lenses but i can't seem to find them online (also i can't find the case you're talking about) could you dm me a link?
Thanks for your review. I have the portrait and have a problem, the pictures look bland and not sharp. I had that lens with my old Pixel 2 and it worked fine.
I just got 2 lenses. One from Apexel with 120 degrees capture but there is some distortion and problems with focus on the corners.
Just got the 18mm Sirui and this is a whole other lens. Sharp images with huge quality compare with the Apexel. Though it is only 95 degrees. But no distortion or problems with sharpness.
I am loving it. I know Sirui now on Aliexpress has a new version which from reviews they are saying are even better than Moment now. I just didn't want to wait 2 to 4 weeks so I bought the only one I found here in Brazil available.
---------- Post added at 11:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:37 AM ----------
Since I had the same doubts I will attach one example for each lenses.
You can look the difference.
For the Sirui will see a clean and good image.
For Apexel, check the right and left side of the picture. Center is clear and sharp but corners are bad.
YorbenB said:
Hey, i'm interested in these lenses but i can't seem to find them online (also i can't find the case you're talking about) could you dm me a link?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I understand, this lens kit is not sold in all regions across the world. I am specifically talking about one of the many kits available on the US Amazon website.
Is this one done with portrait lens: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9xcJ7TdFfdVMDfL7A and the other without just with the Pixel's default focal length?
The Pixel is doing quite well in wide angle but I'm looking for a descent lens towards zoom (or maybe portrait).
TGHH said:
Is this one done with portrait lens: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9xcJ7TdFfdVMDfL7A and the other without just with the Pixel's default focal length?
The Pixel is doing quite well in wide angle but I'm looking for a descent lens towards zoom (or maybe portrait).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None of the linked photos where taken with the Pixel lens alone. All included the Sirui lens attachments. The wider shot was taken with the wide angle lens.
Thank you for the review. I miss my ultra wide lens from my LG. And miss from the pixel 4. I hesitate between stay with my pixel 3 and go to the Moment Case and sirui lens oder buying a f*cking iPhone 11 Pro...
I ask myself if the system really practicable is. The shot the moment fast.
cle_m_ent said:
Thank you for the review. I miss my ultra wide lens from my LG. And miss from the pixel 4. I hesitate between stay with my pixel 3 and go to the Moment Case and sirui lens oder buying a f*cking iPhone 11 Pro...
I ask myself if the system really practicable is. The shot the moment fast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a fair question to ask. For casual snap shots, the separate lenses make no sense.
***WARNING*** EXTREMELY LONG REVIEW ***WARNING***
TLDR:
If you’re serious about your photos, but don’t want to buy a dedicated camera, the lenses from Sirui offer so much versatility and creativity to the Pixel 3 - a phone that is already one of the best point and shoots in the world. After spending a week taking photos with them on vacation, I believe they are absolutely worth every penny!
Introduction:
I love photography - full stop. But I can’t stand the thought of spending $2,000 on a dedicated camera and another $2,000 on lenses and accessories. Plus, carrying all of that around doesn’t sound fun either. This is why I started using my phone’s camera as my primary shooter. The results of smartphone cameras have improved dramatically in the past 2-3 years to the point where I am proud to share my photos online with regularity. Granted, there is still only so much a fixed focal length lens on a smartphone can ever do – even if that smartphone is a Pixel. Enter, the moment lenses… (but wait, I thought this review was about Sirui lenses?!) Hang on. Sometimes we have to go back before we can go forward; we’ll get there…
Background:
Ever since the original Google Pixel was released, the camera was praised and lauded as the premier smartphone camera in the industry. At the time, I was not in the market for a new phone, but my mom was, so I suggested the Pixel to her. She loved it for more than just the camera, but every photo she sent to me just blew me away. It felt unfair that her phone took so much better pictures than mine. So, I decided to do what many of us tech enthusiasts do, and went online looking for deals on the Google Pixel. In case you don’t remember, the original Pixel did NOT have many (if any) promotions during its first 6 months on the market, making it very difficult for me to pull the trigger on a purchase – especially since I’m not a Verizon customer, nor will I ever be (that’s a topic for another review). Because of this struggle to find a deal, enough time passed to where I started hearing rumors about the Pixel 2. It was time to be patient and play the waiting game.
Months later, the Pixel 2 was announced and Google shocked the world with the highest DXO Mark score of any phone EVER – 98! (Yes, I know DXO scores are not the only way to judge camera performance, but this improvement was notable at the time). This score was up from the 89 that the original Pixel scored and knowing how impressed I was with the original, I immediately clicked ADD TO CART. The photos I was able to produce with the Pixel 2 were nothing less than INCREDIBLE. At family gatherings, family members would throw their iPhones aside and beg me to take pictures for them because my phone took such great photos. I was more and more impressed with each shot that I took with this phone. I would even try to take photos of increasingly challenging scenes just to see how far I could push the camera; intentionally breaking the rules of photography by shooting into direct sunlight, or seeking out areas of poor lighting, only to be in awe of the results every time. But these high flying feelings didn’t last forever.
Eventually, I started to get a little bored; bored by how easy it was to take a great photo, bored by how little editing was required to make each photo share-worthy, and simply bored by taking the same types of photos, just in different locations - portrait, landscape, flower, food, repeat. After a year of the greatest smartphone camera experience ever, I became eager to upgrade to the Pixel 3 to recapture that initial magic which my Pixel 2 seemed to have lost. But I was instantly disappointed; not by the Pixel 3’s camera performance, because it’s still class leading, but disappointed by the lack of “wow” factor that I felt with the Pixel 2. It didn’t have the same obvious improvement in photo quality thaw we saw from the original Pixel to the Pixel 2. I was temporarily wowed by the new Night Sight feature - which is pure magic if you ask me, but its use cases are limited and the older Pixels have that feature too. I finally turned to the internet to look for inspiration and found increasingly frequent articles and videos touting the advantages of Moment lenses.
These Moment lens advertisements *ahem* articles and video reviews showed me a new world of photographic possibilities that I simply could not replicate with with my Pixel 2 or 3 alone. They could take portrait photos with natural bokeh without any edge detection failures, and they could take breathtaking wide angle shots to give the scene more drama than the standard focal length lens. And finally, they had a macro lens which I thought would be a game changer. You can always zoom in/out with your feet, but the details that can be seen with a macro lens cannot be imitated. I had to have them! After browsing the Moment website for a moment (no pun intended), I was quickly turned off by the astronomical pricing for these lenses. I simply could not justify paying $100 per lens, plus another $30 for the case required to attach the lenses. After tax, it would have easily surpassed $350 for the set. The dream was dead.
Fast forward a couple months and I stumbled upon an article comparing the Moment lenses with a new lens kit from Rhinosheild. (Seriously - Rhinosheild?! Hurry up and get to the Sirui lenses already) Hang on, almost there... I was excited because these new lenses appeared to be much cheaper than Moment’s, but my excitement was quickly tempered by the side-by-side photo comparisons. IN the review, the Rhinosheild photos looked down right terrible. Somehow, their lenses made the camera’s photos look worse. I kept searching for alternatives and finally stumbled upon Sirui lenses. At the time, there were a handful of decent reviews for them and they were only a fraction of the cost of the Moment lenses. And to top it all off, they fit perfectly onto Moment brand cases. You know the drill by now… ADD TO CART!
The Review:
It took a while, but we’re finally at the review you were looking for. I purchased the Sirui 3-lens kit from Amazon for the grand total of $160 (before taxes) and I purchased the Moment case (wood grain model) for $30. Just in case you skipped the background, let me reiterate that the equivalent set from Moment (without a carrying case) would cost me over $330! The Sirui lens kit comes with 3 lenses (wide angle, portrait & macro), a hard shell carrying case, and a universal lens clip for those who don’t have a compatible phone case. Now of course, I braced myself for these lenses to be of marginal quality to help save on price. I held my breath as I opened the package and inspected the contents.
Build Quality - 5/5 Stars
To my pleasant surprise, they looked and felt very nice. The weight of the lenses was more substantial than I expected, and reassured me they were truly made of metal and glass. Although I’m not much of a fan of the bright red and blue colors for the macro and portrait lenses respectively, so far, neither appears as though the color would fade or chip easily. Scratches however are a real concern so I do not dare set these lenses down on any surface which is harder than a microfiber cloth. Speaking of which, the package includes a small microfiber cloth for cleaning the lenses as needed. It tucks away nicely into the sturdy and fairly rugged case which holds all 3 lenses. The case even has a metal clip/hook that can be secured to just about anything when traveling.
Wide Angle Lens - 4/5 Stars
The wide angle lens has a focal length of 18mm and doesn’t have that unnatural fisheye look of the original V-series LG phones. I’ve found it great to use for the following 3 scenarios:
When taking a picture of a landscape (obviously) or anything that’s too big or tall to fit within the view of the standard focal length. Turn the camera vertically to capture tall buildings or statues.
When taking pictures in a cramped space - real estate agents would love this to make any room look larger and more spacious; especially when you can’t step back any further for a better perspective.
When using the Pixel’s portrait mode - it allows for background blur without cropping in as far. This one isn’t my original idea. I found it on one of the reviews I read.
This lens has proven to be quite versatile; more so than I expected when I purchased it. The lens doesn’t overly distort the scene and the image looks clear and detailed almost all the way to the corners. I only gave it 4 stars though because I wish the focal length was just a hair wider. It may be personal preference, but maybe 16mm would be ideal for my use cases. I found that I could easily replicate the wide angle viewpoint in a few cases by taking just a few steps backward, making the lens less useful in those scenarios.
Portrait Lens - 5/5 Stars
I did not expect to be as impressed with this lens as I was. I was already using my Pixel 3 in portrait mode for background blur to great success, so having a dedicated portrait lens felt redundant. I was WRONG! The portrait lens creates such a smooth and natural background blur that is every bit as satisfying as a dedicated camera. The artificial bokeh (or fokeh) that smartphones are using just doesn’t compare. This lens is the largest and heaviest of the three, so it takes a bit more effort to balance the phone when taking photos. The 60mm focal length does place you much closer to your subject so taking a few steps back is often required, causing your amateur subject to wonder if you’re doing something wrong. I originally planned to give this lens only 4 stars because it does have one small “flaw” that I can find: it’s not exactly razor sharp, or at least, not as sharp as I expected it to be. Granted, it’s sharp enough, and probably just as sharp as the Pixel 3’s lens. But for no reason at all, I just expected the results to be sharper. The reason why I kept the 5 star rating, however, is because of the added benefit of the 60mm focal length. It offers a true optical zoom to the Pixel 3, which already has a fairly impressive digital zoom, and the combination of both offers significant reach that neither could provide alone. I’ve found that I can zoom in up to 8x without critical loss of detail. It’s a very capable lens. I can remove it for normal/wide angle shots, and put it back on for portrait or telephoto shots. If I could only carry one single lens, this would be the one.
Macro Lens - 4/5 Stars
Macro photography is an area where smartphones generally struggle. Software simply cannot overcome the minimum focus distance of the hardware, resulting in blurry photos when positioned too close to the subject. Some of the most dramatic photos can be achieved through macro photography, and this lens is the tool I needed to complete my smartphone photography journey. The Macro lens offers a 10x magnification (not zoom) of the subject so you can see every detail in a flower petal, drop of water, or grain of sand. It highlights details that are barely visible to my naked eye and really brings everyday objects to life. The lens even comes with a light diffusing, removable hood to prevent harsh shadows as you hold the phone so closely to your subject. Be careful though, as you have to hold the lens within 1-2 cm of the subject and risk scratching the lens by contact. I prefer to use the lens hood to help protect the lens. The moment I feel the hood touch my subject, I know not to get any closer. My only complaint is the SUPER shallow depth of field doesn’t allow me to take full advantage of the sensor area. I’m sure it is a standard characteristic of macro lenses, but I find that only the very center of my photo is in focus while the rest of the frame is quite blurry. This forces me to crop out half of my photo before sharing so that only the in-focus area is presented. With phone sensors being so small, cropping really sacrifices the final resolution of the photo.
Conclusion:
I took the Sirui Lens kit with me on a trip to Cancun recently and was able to get some fantastic shots that I absolutely would have not been able to achieve with the Pixel 3 alone. Even though my wife is pregnant, she was a willing model for me on our vacation. And if you know anything about most women, they can be very critical of how they look in photos. She came away from the experience quite impressed with the results and has even given me permission to share them with complete strangers on the internet. There is a link to an album of sample images at the end of this review.
Bottom line - if you are looking to take your smartphone photography to the next level, and aren’t willing to shell out the cash for a Moment lens system, give the Sirui lenses a shot (does that count as a pun?). As long as you don’t expect these lenses to turn your phone into a DSLR, then I doubt you’ll be disappointed. And as you can probably tell by my willingness to write this lengthy review, I certainly am not.
Bonus:
Moment Photo Case - 4/5 Stars
I am fairly impressed with the Moment Photo Case. It is offered for the Pixel 3 in three colors and I chose the black with wood grain backplate. It looked the classiest of the three to me and it certainly feels premium in the hand. It’s bulkier than the ultra thin X-level cases I typically use on my phone, but nowhere near as thick as an Otterbox Commuter or anything like that. The threaded connection for the lenses is super easy to use, requiring only a quarter turn to secure and release the lens. The lenses are also clearly marked in a way that helps you quickly align the threads. I docked it’s rating just a little for the price. In a world of $10 cases, $30 seems a bit steep, but is ultimately required to complete the experience. I also wish Moment made a battery case for the Pixel 3, as this would turn the phone and Sirui lens kit into the ultimate photography tool. Anyone who takes a bunch of photos knows the toll it takes on the battery. And due to the somewhat cumbersome nature of swapping lenses, you typically only carry them with you when you plan to take a lot of pictures. Hopefully, a Moment battery case will be developed some day. Do you think they’ll ever read this review?
Link to Sample Photos:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/HakfHBeif8FekCPv7
Fantastic review. I have a mix of Sirui and Moment. I have the Moment wide angle and macro lenses and the Sirui portrait lens. Build quality between the Sirui and the Moment are on par as far as I can tell. Definitely used both the wide angle and portrait lenses a lot on a recent trip to NYC. Haven't really found much use for the macro lens yet, but I do want to play with it more when I go somewhere with a little more nature, and less concrete jungle.
Does everyone have these extreme lense flares / reflections on night shots? Don't think I've ever seen it this bad... Hopefully they'll be able to improve this through software updates
Lens flare is a big problem on the P6P even during the day when the sun rays hit at an angle #Won'tFix Unfortunately it's a lens problem and can't be fixed with software
If not fixed I hope it can be reduced... Is extreme in some cases
I haven't noticed a single flare at all with night shots the street lights or even in doors in direct lighting, sometimes at a certain angle in previous phones I have had it but nothing on my p6p
Yeah, it's bad.
Not as much as that but I do get that.
Craphead said:
Does everyone have these extreme lense flares / reflections on night shots? Don't think I've ever seen it this bad... Hopefully they'll be able to improve this through software updates
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Yeah. I went to a festival here in Korea called the lantern festival, so it's held mostly at night and I had a buncha shots I had to throw away because of the flare, and a lot were hazy, I thought maybe it was my camera lens being dirty but the next shot was fine after the processing.
Haze and lens flare
Haze
45 degree turn from the previous photo, no issues
One of the better shots but too much HDR
I'm having massive lens flare on my pro like you op. other photos in this thread are acceptable imo. I can't tell if there's an issue or not. it's horrible, no matter what street light or x-mas light its pointed at. and night mode shots, forget it. too bad there's no way tom compare shots unless they are side by side.
running the latest 8.4.300.xxx18 version for the camera app. it drastically fixed front camera preview. so not sure if this issue will be fixed or if my cam is effed (no lens protector and tried it with no case also)
Come on guys when you say you aren't getting any flare. It depends how close you are to street lights. It doesn't happen at a distance from strong street lights. I get it on P6P and am sure you will if you try it. It is not faulty as I had same issue on S21 Ultra main lens but not as severe. Here's a shot I took
I didnt notiece it much. Maybe because of snow
Swingal said:
I didnt notiece it much. Maybe because of snow
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Need to be much closer
Here more examples closer to light and further away
My opinion is, that P6P has problem with the flares, but main problem I see is that Nightsight tries to lighten up the scene, and thinks that the flares are shadows that should be lightened up. But I admit, I pointed my pixel to light source and id did show some flaring, but not as much as your photos.
all phones do that. Even my s21 ultra and my gf's 13 pro max
hello00 said:
all phones do that. Even my s21 ultra and my gf's 13 pro max
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Nah man, maybe to some degree, but this is ridiculous. I still have my previous phone, Oppo Find X2 Pro, and it's not even nearly as bad there. I'll post some side-by-side comparison shots soon
P6 (Pro) has heavy lens flare, it's a known problem. Hopefully Google can somehow tune it down with software updates.
What also helps is making sure that the lens is pristine, meaning you need to make sure its properly cleaned before you make photos. Even a little bit of smudge or dust or something can cause lens flare. Hopefully that means it's a software thing-y.
It's got absolutely nothing to do with dirty lens, that purple lens flare is light bouncing off the lens or sensor inside.
Seany72 said:
It's got absolutely nothing to do with dirty lens, that purple lens flare is light bouncing off the lens or sensor inside.
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Are you talking from experience? Having the camera bump cleaned does help with lens flare, just try it out yourself. There was a reddit discussion about this and people were adamant about it, I tried it out and it somewhat helps.
Also, your "logic" is not quite thorough.
If there is dirt/smudge/whatever above the lens/camera, of course that could cause lens flare, since that will reflect/redirect light. With a rough surface, reflected light rays scatter in all directions.
For reference
I get lens flare when using Canon L lenses (and one of them retails just under £2000) it is the nature of the beast shooting into bright sources of light though a lens.
MrBelter said:
I get lens flare when using Canon L lenses (and one of them retails just under £2000) it is the nature of the beast shooting into bright sources of light though a lens.
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Correct, some degree of lens flare is almost unavoidable. The P6 has, however, relatively heavy/often lens flare present - that was not present (as heavily) in previous Pixel phone iterations/sensors. Hopefully Google can somehow tune this down. It's distracting and most often or not ruins an otherwise great shot.