Smartphone lenses expand the usual fixed-zoom built-in lens to cover more views — but what about turning those SLR or mirrorless lenses you already own into a smartphone accessory? That’s the idea behind the Cinematics International Company Limited’s new DOF smartphone adapter that allows photographers and filmmakers to pair nearly any lens with a smartphone.
No Film School spotted the oddity during the National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas this week. The adapter comes in two pieces, a frame that holds the smartphone and an adapter that mounts the lens. The company says the smartphone frame accommodates smartphones across different brands, while the lens adapter is available in mounts for most lenses, including Canon, Nikon, Sony, and others.
The odd mix allows the lens, including the zoom controls, to be used with a smartphone. No Film School calls it a “working cinema camera” suggesting focus controls on the lens are still used in the set-up, too. With no electronic connection between the smartphone and the lens, some features are going to be missing — though there’s no electronic connection with smartphone add-on lenses either. There’s no word yet on a price or release date.
Cinematic International Company Limited is a company based in China that offers different photography accessories. The company’s eBay store includes accessories from follow focuses to modified lenses.
Placing a pricey cinema lens on the front of a small-sensor smartphone camera is a bit of an odd concept. Lenses designed for smartphones are much less expensive and much smaller. Mixing a lightweight smartphone and a heavy lens is also going to create an odd balance for shooting handheld.
But the rig by Cinematic International Company Limited actually isn’t odd enough to be completely unique. The Beastgrip DOF adapter is a similar concept, with a smartphone case and a lens mount for mixing a smartphone with a DSLR or cinema lens. (Moment also makes an adapter that can make a DSLR filter fit a smartphone.) Beastgrip’s option also includes cold shoe mounts on the smartphone case to add on accessories such as a microphone. The product originally launched on Kickstarter from startup Beastgrip but is now available at retail. The DOF adapter is $140 while the grip and case is sold separately for the same price.
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