More so now than ever, the iPhone is as much a camera as it is an actual telephone. As the camera has improved over the years, so have the third-party gadgets designed to improve your iPhoneography. To help save you the time of searching, we’ve rounded up nine of the best iPhone camera accessories and brought them together in a convenient list, with an emphasis on the latest iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.
Battery Pack — $15+
Taking photos and videos on your iPhone can be taxing on its battery. To make sure you have enough juice to capture everything you want, you’re going to want an external battery pack. To save you time, we’ve rounded up 25 of the best battery packs on the market for you to choose from. These range from small, pocket-sized options to ones large enough to restart your car battery in the event it gives up.
Moment Lenses — $35+
One of the most effective ways to improve your smartphone photography is to purchase add-on lens attachments. While there are plenty of cheaper options on the market, none are made to the build quality of Moment Lenses. Constructed of high-quality glass within a metal frame, Moment Lenses let you capture telephoto, wide-angle, and fisheye perspectives.
Zeiss ExoLens — $200
Another add-on lens option: Zeiss is known for its lenses for DSLR and mirrorless cameras. But now you can get yourself a piece of the iconic glass for your iPhone thanks to Zeiss’ new ExoLens PRO setup. Much like the Moment lenses, Zeiss’ lenses attach to the front of your iPhone’s camera using a dedicated mounting point. Zeiss currently offers wide angle, telephoto, and macro lenses for giving your iPhone photography a little optical boost.
Manfrotto Pixi Mini Tripod — $22
Manfrotto knows a thing or two about making tripods, and its mobile lineup is no exception. The Manfrotto Pixi Mini Tripod is designed in Italy like its larger siblings, and offers the same type of build quality you’d come to expect from Manfrotto. Included with the tripod is a dedicated smartphone mount that fits even the largest of iPhones (without a case, that is).
Olloclip Core Lens Set — $100
Like the Moment and Zeiss lenses, Olloclip is another solution for making the most of your iPhone’s camera(s) through additional lenses. Olloclip’s Core Lens Set is its latest offering. It includes a dedicated lens mounting clip and three interchangeable lenses: A fisheye, a super-wide angle, and a 15x macro lens. Unlike the aforementioned lenses, Olloclip’s is more affordable.
DJI Osmo Mobile — $300
If video is more your thing, you’ll be hard-pressed to find an iPhone accessory more valuable (and expensive) than the DJI Osmo Mobile. The DJI Osmo Mobile is a multi-axis gimbal nearly identical to the system used by DJI’s 4K handheld camera. It is designed to be used alongside a dedicated smartphone app, and offers a slew of clever features to ensure you never miss a moment and capture it all as smoothly as possible.
Manfrotto Lumimuse LED Light — $45
The LED lights integrated into smartphones are adequate for a handful of situations. But they’re far from perfect. If you need more light in your scene, be it a photo or video, Manfrotto’s Lumimuse is your solution. It’s a small, credit card-sized light designed to boost low-light images or add a little more creative control.
Selfy Case — $20
Selfies are fairly straightforward. However, they’re not always the easiest to capture, especially when you want to put some distance between yourself and the camera. Enter the Selfy Case, an iPhone case with a built-in Bluetooth remote for wirelessly taking a photo. No longer do you have to be tethered to your phone to take a photo. As a bonus, this also works great for starting and stopping long exposure and time-lapse photographs.
Fujifilm Instax Share SP-2 — $200
Sometimes it’s nice move your photos off the screen and onto a piece of paper. Now, you can do so in a heartbeat with Fujifilm’s Instax Share SP-2 instant printer. Using Fujifilm’s Instax film cartridges, you can now send photos directly to the printer and have them turned into Polaroid-like photos to hand out to friends and family. The best part is, it comes in both gold and silver, so you can match it to your iPhone (sorry, black and rose gold iPhone owners).
Hitcase Pro 2.0 — $130
Your iPhone might never be a GoPro, but the Hitcase Pro will get it darn near close. Hitcase Pro 2.0 is a waterproof, shockproof, and mountable case for your iPhone that effectively turns it into a rugged action cam. As you’d expect from an action cam, it features the same mounting system as the GoPro, meaning it shouldn’t be too hard to find accessories and mounting plates for every possible situation. There are even add-on lenses to extend the imaging capabilities of your iPhone. Currently, the Hitcase Pro 2.0 is available for pre-order.