CAMERA ZOOM Lens Kit for iPhone 7 Plus Review

Want to take your iPhone 7 Plus photos to the next level, then consider the CAMERA ZOOM Lens Kit made in partnership with ZTYLUS. We reviewed and liked the ZTYLUS lens set for the iPhone 6 last year. Now they have come up with this new system that includes a case and two lens attachments for your iPhone 7 Plus. Each attachment comes with two different lenses that take advantage of the dual lens system of the Apple iPhone 7 Plus camera. That’s four lenses and a case for one price.

How Does the CAMERA ZOOM Lens Kit Work?

Here’s how the CAMERA ZOOM Lens Kit works. Place the included case on your iPhone 7 Plus and then slide one of the two inserts into the slot on the back of the phone. Each attachment comes with two layers of lenses that replace the optics of the built-in iPhone 7 Plus camera.

An attachment holds a fisheye lens and a telephoto lens. The fisheye lens covers the main iPhone 7 Plus camera lens, giving it an ultra-wide-angle lens to make everything look round. You can see everything in an extreme field of view of 165 degrees, which means the equivalent of .35X zoom. Then tap the 2X button in the iOS Camera app. This closes the main lens and opens the 2nd iPhone 7 Plus lens at about 2x the zoom of the main lens. The attached 2nd lens covers this 2nd iPhone Camera Lens. It has a 30-degree field of view with a 1.5X zoom factor. Add this on top of the 2X zoom from the built-in lens and you get a beautiful telephoto zoom experience.

The company’s video above shows the user zooming even further with the software-based zoom in the iPhone 7 Plus Camera app, but that’s not a good idea. It just enlarges the pixels and reduces the photo quality. It is better to stick with the optical zoom of the lenses and then crop the photo to show a close-up view of the subject.

Design and Build Quality of Cases and Lenses

The case works well as a protective iPhone 7 Plus case. I dropped my phone several times while using the case and it’s still intact, no scratches or cracked phone screen.

The back of the case looks nice – as if hundreds of square pixels are close by. I like the effect.

The hard TPU edges are smooth, but provide some grip. The case covers the power and volume buttons of the phone, but it is not difficult to press them while the phone has a case.

There are cutouts for the mute button, charging port and speaker grilles. It’s not difficult to flip the mute button or plug the phone in because the case doesn’t interfere.

Problems with the CAMERA ZOOM Lens Kit

Lenses fit on the back of the case. As you can see in the images above, the lens attachments slide into a channel on the back of the case. They are “locked” so that the attachment is below the phone’s lenses so that the attachment’s lenses do not obscure the built-in camera lenses. Then they slide the attachment up and it “snaps” into place. There are quotes around these terms because over time the plastic on the attachments or housing seemed to wear down and the attachments began to loosen. Now, they come off the channel easily, and I know I’m going to lose someone I keep connected 24/7.

Do not leave lenses attached all the time. Instead, store them in the included carrying cases when not in use.

It will get annoying if you have to keep the lens attachment attached to the case all the time. You cannot lay the phone on its back as seen above. Even with the lens removed, the channel holding the lenses protrudes slightly from the back of the phone, so the phone still wobbles a bit when lying on the back.

Quality of Lenses and Photos

The real decision comes from photo quality. Here are some sample images so you can decide for yourself. Click to enlarge the photos for better evaluation. This first set shows some examples of fisheye lenses.

They look pretty good, but the image of the front of my church shows that the lens can add some haze. It creates a smooth effect. Compare them with the example taken with Olloclip, the most popular set of lens attachments (see below).

Fisheye Lens in Olloclip Core Lens Set with iPhone 7 Plus

I can’t see much of a difference, but the Olloclip shot looks sharper than the CAMERA ZOOM Lens Kit fisheye lens samples above. Also, notice that the shot below looks a bit bland.

I took the above shot with the KAMERAR ZOOM Lens Kit telephoto lens. Below you will see the same scene without the lens. Notice how the color looks a little warmer in the shot above with the zoom lens. If you prefer this effect, the lens may offer a bonus. That said, I prefer better color accuracy and the low shot without a lens looks more faithful to the scene.

Here’s another pair of shots first with and without a zoom lens. First, a portrait shot with a zoom lens.

Here is a second example taken without zoom.

The lens filtered out some of the light. The color of the bottom shot looks more accurate, but the first sample looks better. Portraits often look better with some warmth added.

Now we will show some examples with the macro lens set on the iPhone 7 Plus. First, we take an example of a macro lens shot using the 1X zoom setting in the iPhone 7 Plus Camera app.

It’s hard to get a good exposure with a phone this close to the subject as it blocks out the room’s natural light. Below you’ll see an example shot at the 2X setting in the Camera app on the iPhone 7 Plus. This gives you an effective zoom ratio of 10X.

I tried to take a shot in normal 1X mode without the lenses attached. Below you will see that the built-in iPhone 7 Plus camera is unable to focus even at this close range.

Value and Recommendation

The CAMERA ZOOM Lens Kit costs $49.99 for the iPhone 7 Plus case and two lens attachments. They come with a pair of carrying bags. This is much cheaper than the Olloclip lens set we reviewed in late 2016. But even $50 is too much if the lens system doesn’t work well, doesn’t produce quality images, or comes with a case that doesn’t protect your phone.

The case protected my phone in three drops, but the additional lenses no longer fit and lock properly. I’m not sure if the lens mounts or the channel holding the bracket on the back of the case were broken, but the plastic loosened the fit and the lenses fell off very easily. Unless you plan to keep them connected all the time, that’s fine. I recommend removing it when not in use. Pack them in small carrying cases and keep them in your pocket or computer bag. Same problem with olloclip system. And I would never walk around with those lenses on 24/7.

Photos taken with the CAMERA ZOOM Lens Kit actually look pretty good. The zoom lens filters out some light, making images look warmer than shots taken with the phone camera alone. I love the fisheye effect and the macro lens for detailed shots. Lenses make for some interesting and fun photos.

The Olloclip system is much more expensive, but produces slightly better quality photos. Here is the price list of everything you need to buy from Olloclip to get the comparable lenses in the CAMERA ZOOM Lens Kit for iPhone 7 Plus:

If you bought all of these from Olloclip, you’d pay $249.97. You actually get a little more, as the two sets above contain five different lenses. Also, Olloclip makes a third set of lenses for those who are really serious about macro photography. They sell the Olloclip Macro Pro set for $79.99. Includes a set of 7x, 14x and 21x zoom macro lenses.

this CAMERA ZOOM Lens Kit It costs one-fifth of the price and includes a more attractive case. It works well as long as you only wear the lenses when you need them. Shots taken with the set look good, but may not look as accurate as the lens of the iPhone 7 Plus’s built-in camera. This system makes sense for people who like to take interesting photos with their camera and don’t want to spend a lot of money. If you’re a die-hard iPhone 7 Photographer, you might want to spend the extra money and invest in the Olloclip system instead.