iPhone Moment Macro Lens

[ColSebastianMoran]

I have been experimenting with the iPhone Moment Macro lens to capture/copy 35mm film images. (Intrigued by the FilmLab app (now in Beta) which will frame and convert image of a film negative to a positive.)

Anyone else using this lens?

Question: I'm having trouble getting really good focus except at one focal distance, where the edge of the translucent hood is pressed against the subject.

At this focal distance, the iPhone 7 Plus captures the full vertical of the 35mm frame, but not the full width. I might like to back off a bit.

At this perfect focal distance, the resulting capture is very good, nearly as good as a superb macro lens on a 24MPx DSLR. I think this quality is amazing.

Here is the lens on iPhone 7 Plus:

Here is how I am capturing a negative, with the edge of the hood pressed against the subject film on a light panel:

Is there any way to get this to focus at a different focal distance?

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

How good is the Moment Macro lens at its fixed focus?

I compared a shot of a good color negative (Moment Macro on iPhone 7 Plus) to the same shot on a Beseler Slide Duplicator using the superb APO Rodagon D 1:1 lens and a 24MPx camera. The Rodagon was just a little better.

And, here's the standard USAF glass test slide on a light panel. I read Group 5 Element 4 at extinction; that's 45 cycles/mm. This should be enough for an iPhone-camera-scan of most 35mm images.

iPhone 7Plus, Moment Macro lens, at fixed focus (rim of hood against slide). Note: this is about a 300% blow up of central area:

 

[f16sunshine]

Interesting.
So if I understand ypu correctly, the lens is et for perfect focus at the edge of the little cup.
That perfect focus distance does not quite project enough of a 35mm film.
If you move any further away and keep focus it sounds like the lens is not wide enough to catch a full negative.
Do they have a wider version? Was this lens marketed as a scanning lens.
Seems like a great idea and just a matter of time before we see an iPhone scanning lens with film holder and maybe even a back light.
Thanks for posting!

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

Interesting.
So if I understand ypu correctly, the lens is et for perfect focus at the edge of the little cup.
That perfect focus distance does not quite project enough of a 35mm film.
If you move any further away and keep focus it sounds like the lens is not wide enough to catch a full negative.
Do they have a wider version? Was this lens marketed as a scanning lens.
Seems like a great idea and just a matter of time before we see an iPhone scanning lens with film holder and maybe even a back light.

Yes, you've got it exactly.

Yes, there is a "wide," probably 20mm equivalent, and the Moment product gets very high ratings. But, it won't focus close enough for a iPhone-Camera-Scan of film.

No, marketed as a "10x macro lens" not a scanning lens.

iPhone attachment consisting of lens and film holder. Interesting idea.

 

[kbb]

It seems that the Moment macro yields an inadequate focusing range for framing a 24x36 field due to being just a touch "too powerful", diopter-wise. A slightly less powerful, high-quality achromatic diopter could give sharp results with the requested field size, with distortion possibly being the last remaining problem to solve.

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

pluton, that's right.

But, the idea of an iPhone capture is for convenience. I've tried holding an excellent Olympus diopter in front of the iPhone. Regardless of the optical quality, it's a pain to hold everything in the right position. If I'm gonna try to rig something like this, I might as well use a real camera with a great macro lens on a copy stand.

Right now, I'm thinking that this Moment lens, with the rim-of-the-hood as a focusing aid, is a pretty convenient rig for copying slides, negatives, postage stamps, anything flat. Even though it won't cover the full 35mm image area.

DOF at macro distances, even with the tiny lens, is pretty small.

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

... with distortion possibly being the last remaining problem to solve.

Distortion. Good question. I'll do a couple of samples.

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

iPhone 7 Plus focusing as close as it goes is pretty free of distortion.

Moment Macro on iPhone 7 Plus, 1x lens, has some complex distortion. This grid printed on paper; yes, it was flat when photographed.

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

Here's a comparison of three macro lenses on the iPhone 7 Plus. Same subject, a 35mm negative of a Tokyo street scene, originally shot with a good lens (Yashica GX).

Lenses on iPhone 7 Plus:
- Zeiss ExoLens Pro macro lens, discontinued, unobtainable, hyper-expensive
- Moment Macro Lens, about $100

For comparison: 24MPx Sony A7 capture using the fab APO Rodagon D 1:1 lens.

To my eye, the Moment on the iPhone is almost as good as the A7 with APO Rodagon D. Zeiss ExoLens Pro lags. (Ignore color balance difference.)