In search of an inexpensive and flexible option to get a taste of macro photography, I typed into Amazon.com's search engine "macro lens for cell phones." It returned a handful of promising options (other than the cheap clip-on lens sets that I already tried and failed).
I quickly zoomed in on the lens made by Moment, a company out of Seattle that specializes in mobile photography equipment, for two reasons.
First, their lenses are not cheap. They offer four types of lens (wide, telephoto, macro, superfish), ranging from $100-120 a piece. That is more than twice as much as the next most expensive lens (at around $40).
Second, these are not "clip-on" lenses, which are not very secure. They make specialized phone cases for iphone, Pixel and Samsung Gallaxy, and their lens will attach snugly to the opening on the case for the phone camera.
I looked around the company's website to get a sense of their business model, and I was impressed. They take mobile photography seriously and supply high-quality paraphernalia to stretch the already considerable photographic and video capabilities of high-end smartphones. Their site features the combination of active, outdoorsy lifestyle and a certain aesthetic style -- simple, functional yet sleek and modern look -- in which mobile photography fits perfectly. Their products are presented in a streamlined, no bullshit kind of way, but company's staff who are obviously into their own products.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the crisp images featured on their website, taken mostly outdoors with their various lens offerings.
Here is an example of macro photos shot by one of their users (@kevkonishi). In my untrained eye, this looks like a pretty amazing shot. This would be more than enough for a starter, I thought.
So I pressed "Check Out," and two days later, a Moment macro lens and phone case arrived at my door.
The idea of mobile photography was really exciting to me. No need to carry a heavy camera bag. I carry my cell phone everywhere I go anyway, and with an addition of a few compact lenses, I can take an amazing range of photographs wherever I go. Regardless of what else I end up doing with macro photography, I'm happy to have this option available, and it won't be surprising if I end up buying more of their lenses.
(Just a side note: I went through Amazon for this first order, but next time, I'll just go to Moment's own website (shopmoment.com), where everything seems to be priced about 10% cheaper.)
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