I had been eying Moment’s Anamorphic Lens for quite some time. So, when it went on sale the weeks of Black Friday/Cyber Monday, I pulled the trigger! It was at a decent price and I intend to get into more videos and cinematic looks in my career. The stars aligned.

When using traditional wide-angle lenses, they tend to push the background further away in the frame. You get a bit of distortion, especially around the edges. Things appear either larger or smaller in frame, depending on where they are placed. While none of these are natural characteristics we notice with our own eyes, they do have a beautiful look on their own, and serve a specific purpose.

With an anamorphic lens, you still get the wide-angle field of view. However, all the elements are kept close in frame. This creates this look that is both extremely grand in scale while also very intimate. This is helped in part by its unique cinemascope aspect ratio as well. It is hard to explain, so here are some sample photos.

Also, how about that PNW weather?! The conditions were ideal in showing the lens off and putting it through its early paces. Another characteristic of an anamorphic lens is that crazy horizontal lens flare. Think J.J. Abrams. Super 8. Star Trek (2009). All those lens flares we make fun of and associate with him are done using an anamorphic lens. I was not able to properly test that out but I can say it definitely creates them.

So far, I am very pleased with this accessory. I am looking forward to using it more and learning what it is good for and what it is not. Video is also something I need to test further, because this lens was built for cinema.

So, who is this lens for? Should you buy it? Do you even need it? Here is what I would say. Unless you are a semi-professional/professional photographer or cinematographer, I would not even bother with this lens. While I am mainly a hobbyist, photos and videos are increasingly becoming a part of my job as well. For me, it was worth the investment because I am seriously moving in a direction that requires producing unique work.

The reason I would not recommend this for most people is because, most likely, your phone takes stellar photos and video all on its own. If you bought a phone within the last few years, you can probably shoot 4k. If you are the every day Bob or Karen, you whip your phone out, click, share, and the phone goes back in the pocket. Having an accessory, like this, is one extra step that I do not believe a lot of people are willing to take often enough to make it worth the investment.

Hope everyone found this helpful! I will be posting much more about this, I am sure, in the future. Check out https://www.shopmoment.com if you are interested in this and more of their products. It is a company I wish was around when I was first taking mobile photography seriously!

Note: All photos were taken on an iPhone 11 using the Moment App. Editing was done in Adobe Lightroom Mobile.

First Impressions: Moment Anamorphic Lens