Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2010

Courtesy of Princeton

Everybody knows that the camera on the iPhone is rubbish, but this might be taking things a bit too far. Princeton’s iZoom promises to transform your keitai into the kind of high-tech camera rig used by ornithologists and perverts. Slip the phone into the enclosed case, stick the 8x zoom lens over the regular camera, and you’ll be getting National Geographic-standard shots in no time. Maybe. The lens is good for distances of 3m to infinity, and Princeton claims that it offers better results than a digital zoom. For added nerd appeal, you can clip the ensemble onto a special mount and whack it on a tripod. Ooh, geeky.

PIP-CK1 iZoom, ¥3,980. Available from major electronic stores and Princeton Direct (www.princeton-direct.jp).