iPhone 20x Telephoto Lens Review

Features
Handling
Performance
Verdict
Specification



On test here is a 20x telephoto lens which is for the iPhone 5. It is supplied by DCkina, on their site you'll also find the same lens available for the iPhone 4/4S, Samsung Galaxy S3/S4 and Samsung Note 2/3. The lens is available for $125.65 (approx £82.57 as of 18/07/13) and comes with a cover to attach the lens to the phone, mini tripod, pouch for back cover, cleaning cloth, tripod attachment ring and user guide.

iPhone 20x Telephoto Lens Features

• 20x aluminium cased telephoto lens
• Manual focus
• 5° angle of View
• iPhone cover (to fix lens to)
• Supplied with a mini tripod, pouch and cleaning cloth
• 660mm equivalent focal length
• Lens constructed of 11 elements in 8 groups

iPhone 20x Telephoto Lens Handling

At 300g the lens is quite heavy and when attached to the iPhone it's important to keep a firm hold of the lens if you are shooting handheld. Due to the amount of shake generated when shooting handheld you really need to use a tripod to get the best from the lens. It comes supplied with a decent mini tripod, ideal for table tops, for example, but you can also attach it to any normal tripod when shooting outside. To further reduce shake we recommend using the SmugMug Camera Awesome iOS app, which has an image stabilisation feature, or purchase a Belkin LiveAction Camera Remote.

The lens has a fixed focal length, a 35mm equivalent of 660mm and has a manual focus ring. With the manual focusing it's very hard to shoot fast moving objects unless you know exactly the position your subject will be in. The focus ring has a number of grooves to help you grip it, but it feels rather loose, except it's quite tight at one point.

It is also worth noting that you can't use the lens with the flash as it shines right into it, so remember to turn it off. It is a very nice touch that the lens comes with a pouch and lens caps for both ends, meaning you can keep it clean when not in use.

iPhone 20x Telephoto Lens Performance

Image quality isn't bad for sharing on the web, but even on our thumbnails below you can see purple fringing in places. The manual focus is also quite difficult to get right on the iPhone screen, so you may find you are fiddling with it quite a lot to get your images right.

DCkina iPhone 20x Telephoto Lens Sample Photos

Value for money

The 20x Telephoto lens is available for $125.65 (approx £82.57 as of 18/07/13). This makes it quite expensive. We have also reviewed a 12x lens and an 8x lens which are much cheaper. For just over £100 you can buy the Olympus SP-620UZ which has a 21x optical zoom lens.

iPhone 20x Telephoto Lens Verdict

The majority of the people who are interested in buying the 20x telephoto lens will probably take one look at the price and decide against it. It comes with a handy range of accessories but it's too much like hard work to use and the images produced aren't exactly impressive either.

iPhone 20x Telephoto Lens Pros

Comes with a mini tripod
Can be attached to most standard tripods
Gives the iPhone 5 a 35mm equivalent focal length of 660mm

iPhone 20x Telephoto Lens Cons

Expensive
Lots of purple fringing
Manual focus makes picture taking even harder

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
OVERALL

DCkina iPhone 20x Telephoto Lens Specifications

View Full Product Details