We were heading back to Gdańsk, Poland after our most recent adventure overseas, when we realized that the package was waiting for us at Cez’s Grandma’s home. We’ve always loved taking pictures whilst traveling and that little (well fairly big, actually) package was about to change our photo taking the world; definitely for the better. Introducing (or maybe reinforcing for you crafty buyers out there!) the amazing Pixter camera accessories, and our review of them!
A traveler’s best friends
The Pixter Camera accessories are a set of tools for helping to expand any smartphone camera. Whether you’re running on an expensive iPhone, or have been saving your money to pay for your next overseas adventure and have a cheap no-name brand, these add-ons are a must! Just look at them all lined up there, so cute!
You might not have heard of Gdansk before, but it’s a real hidden gem. To help us put this review together, we’ve been running around the city for the past few days taking as many pictures as possible. Flowers, buildings, even Gdansk’s beaches! It’s been so easy to find great things to take pictures of as well because everything’s just so beautiful. So without further ado, here is our review.
Macro Pro lens
Do you remember a few years ago when the macro was all the rage? We were all sitting down with flowers and taking cheeky macro snaps (flower power!). If you managed to catch a bee in your pic, it was even better. Then macro photography seemed to be replaced by sweeping vistas and scenery overnight. Yet during the past few years, the technology has continued to get better and better.
The Pixter camera accessories we received included one macro lens for use on our smartphone. I have to say… wow. I’m right back to taking pictures of flowers as much as I can. With summer starting to break in as well, there couldn’t have been a better time!
I haven’t managed to catch any bees with it yet, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed. So far, I’ve had absolutely no blur with the lens, and the stability of my shots is just great! Even Cez has had to admit that the flower pictures look awesome!
Telephoto lens
Telephoto has always been hard to get right with a smartphone. There’s just something really difficult about creating real depth of field. A lot of the new smartphones have been using software to do the job, but it’s really not at a level yet where it can replace a good old fashioned SLR camera.
You know, when you look at your phone after you’ve taken that zoomed in the picture. What’s all the grain there for? It looks terrible, as though you were looking at a frozen Skype video call from ten years ago! Ew! But, no worries, Pixter’s lens doesn’t need any software, it just needs you to clip it onto the back of your phone. So convenient!
And there’s no blur when you do it. No horrible looking grain which ruins your pictures! It’s not got the largest zoom at 2x optical (60mm, for you camera buffs out there!), but it’s definitely worth it if you’re sticking to a smartphone. It’s certainly made our shots of the Motlawa River in the evening a lot better. Our smartphone sensors are able to pick up a lot of the light without any problems and there’s definitely not as much grain in the darker areas.
Super Fisheye lens
Fisheye lenses look weird. They seem to distort everything and put it into one place. I used to think that they were just a cheap trick or kind of pointless. But actually, the more and more I’ve traveled, the more I’ve come to realize that there is a reason to have a fisheye lens on you at all times.
I remember when we were out in Sydney, Australia. We were on a boat and wanted to start taking pictures of the city, but no matter how much we tried, it was just impossible to take enough good quality pictures which really captured enough to the city in a single photo. I mean, we still got some incredible shots, but thinking back now, I wish we had brought a fisheye lens with us then.
The Pixter Camera accessories super fisheye lens has a 235° capture angle, and it didn’t reduce the quality of the shots we took at all. Check out our cheeky selfie in Gdansk’s old town!
Travel pack
Right, now this is really where things start to become necessities. We can see the Pixter travel pack just being indispensable the next time we head off on another of our travels. It comes with both a tripod and a wide angle lens. First, though, we want to talk about the tripod.
It’s just so versatile. The legs can move around in all sorts of directions and act as a clasp. Most tripods tend to just stand straight off the ground. This really isn’t good if you’re looking to take it traveling with you. With the Pixter tripod, you can wrap it around a post, or a tree, or someone’s arm (if that’s your thing). It doesn’t matter because the puffy coating on the legs means it stays stable and still. Your pictures will look great.
And then there’s the wide angle lens. Do we really need to tell you by a wide angle lens is just so essential when traveling? We didn’t think so. Just take a look at our panorama shots from Gradowa Mountain.
Gdansk: A photographer’s wonderland
We have to say, the Pixter Camera accessories really encouraged us to start exploring Gdansk in new ways. I had been away from Poland for 10 years, and Cez had been away for 12. Life on the road was great, but there were things which we both missed. Taking all the pictures we did, just reminded us how beautiful Poland can be.
Gdansk’s old town is simply incredible. We couldn’t help but take pictures of everything there. The old town’s architecture is just so traditional! Everyone who travels through here thinks it’s as awesome as we do!
Our favorite things to take pictures of where the Ferris wheel in the old town, Neptune’s fountain, and Artus Court. It was also great heading up Gradowa Mountain and taking a few pics from there as well.
The final verdict
The Pixter Camera accessories are great, we have to say. They don’t reduce the quality of the shots we take, and whilst I’m no expert when it comes to manufacturing, even I can tell that there’s something special about their build quality.
Of course, for us the most important thing is portability. These little guys are portable; they’re easy to both carry, and clip on. Meaning you’ll get from “Oh that looks beautiful”, to actually taking a picture of it a lot faster. We can’t wait to take these little guys for a spin during our next adventure. We’ll be sure to be bringing them with us when we head to the Baltic sea!
Which lens do you think you would use the most?
8 thoughts on “A Photographer’s Adventure Playground: Pixter’s Camera Accessories Review”
look very useful! Thanks for this review!
You’re welcome, Andy! ;)
My brother and sister-in-law have the fish eyed lens! It works great when you really want to get the background in there, it’s like a selfie stick without having to carry one around all the time. I still like my DSLR though.
That’s sounds interesting, Leanne! :)
I don’t know what to think about these. I like to get good photo’s. My blog images are 512 x 384. So taking a shot with a smartphone at say 5-8 MP, cropping my size from that and I have a telefoto shot. Same with my Leica/Lumix cameras, though a 12X Zoom can, once in a great while, come in handy. The rest I do in Photoshop, including polarization.
Smartphone cameras seem to be swings and roundabouts when it comes to quality. Publishing on a blog is a lot different than sharing between one fone and another. Though, if I can afford one, a Lumia 1020 has distinct possibilities to replace my main camera. The main factor on fones for photography is their size and weight (a critical issue with me). I can save a ton of room in my backpack with a Ziess lensed smartphone that has decent processing (that way I can carry my sandals and still save weight ;)).
I was asked to try one out too and I was won over, just found it a little fiddly to line up to start with.
It’s great you had a chance to try it out, Becky! :)
I really like these lens. Ive always had an interest in photography but never had the money to go and buy a professional camera so I decided to buy this as an alternative. Honestly I think it was a good buy. Its far from professional but its a great start. The packaging was great and everything seemed nice and organized. The lens were very nice and clean. And if the lens were to get dirty the little pouch could also be used to wipe the lens. All the lens were nice but I could not see any difference when I used macro vs my bare camera. The only thing that disappointed me was the tripod. One of the legs fell right off after the first use and it squeaks during certain movements. Bit the issue with the leg is easily fixable with some glue. Overall Its a great product to try to start getting into photography.
Thanks in advance
Jerome Ho