A very cool iPhone 5 accessory gets Kickstarter funding
Photographers have long used polarizing filters to help improve image quality and naturally enhance the light and color of a photo. I missed this one when the funding started (I’ll explain later), but here’s a Kickstarter project for the iPhone 5 Trygger Camera Clip. It adds an adjustable polarizing filter to your iPhone 5.
There are about three days left on this Kickstarter and I really hope this project gets funded. Keep reading for why. >>>
The iPhone 5 Trygger Camera Clip is a lighweight, easy to use clip with one function — it adds a polarizing filter to your iPhone 5. It’s the smaller, sexier, better built sibling of last year’s Trygger iPhone 4S/4 Case.
A polarizing filter like that on the Trygger Camera Clip cuts out bright unwanted reflections. Like the popular olloclip, the Trygger Camera Clip fits snugly over the case and lens of the iPhone 5. On my 5, the review unit slipped smoothly and securely into place. The unit has a protective interior to prevent wear and scratching of the iPhone 5’s bare case. Alignment to the lens was just about perfect. It is removable so it doesn’t block your flash when not in use.
Using the dial on the outer edge, the filter is adjustable so you can change the level of light that comes through. This gives you more control over the look of your photos than a fixed-position filter.
Geek alert. If you haven’t had your coffee today, skip this paragraph. When I was a kid my dad taught me how polarizing filters work. They’re really cool! In short, they are designed to filter out targeted wavelengths of light. For example, light coming from a reflected surface such as water or glass window is at a specific wavelength. By adjusting or rotating the filter to the corresponding angle, it’s possible to block the reflected light on that specific wavelength from entering the lens, making the reflections fainter. That’s the very short version. I left out the parts about linear and circular molecular structure. Longer, more detailed versions are here and here.
In short, the Trygger Camera Clip helps reduce glare and reflections, and helps enhance colors within your image. For one thing, it’ll really make your sky look vibrant and rich. It’s an effect that you can’t replicate with a photo app or a software filter. The polarizing effect works with both color and black & white camera apps.
Trygger’s hand-made polarizing filters are created by placing a color neutral polarizing film between two layers of scratch resistant, high-grade optical glass. The filter is well-recessed to help protect it further from any scratches or dust. It only causes a very slight exposure hit on an iPhone 5. In lower light situations it may cause the iPhone’s ISO sensitivity to increase a tiny bit or may cause a slightly slower shutter.
Here’s why I missed this Kickstarter. Honestly, this was low on my radar. I was very disappointed with Trygger’s iPhone 4/4S case Kickstarter last year. Not only was there a bad case of production creep where the delivery date slipped significantly, but I was really disappointed in the quality and usability of the original case.
Then, I was sent an early production model of the new clip to have a look at.
The new iPhone 5 Trygger Camera Clip addresses all of the flaws in the original case. According to the Kickstarter page, the filter itself is more durable than the previous version, although I never had a problem with filter or case durability with mine. The photos from the review unit I received are perfect and crystal clear. The filter itself is visibly wider in diameter and doesn’t cause any of the vignetting I had with the original case.
I actually think that these will be delivered on time. I was sent one of the early production models and it’s ready to go. It’s a slick, finished out unit. I believe that Trygger has already worked out the kinks in the product and their production cycle with the first case. They’ve already got engineering teams and manufacturing partners with experience from launching one of these products.
More important, it looks like they’ve listened to user feedback to improve the unit. I’ll go out on a limb here and say that I suspect that includes taking into consideration customer satisfaction as well.
The iPhone 5 Trygger Camera Clip is a $30 Kickstarter pledge and it’s available in black or white. That’s almost $10 off the normal $39.95 retail price this will have if the project gets funded. This project will only be funded if at least $10,000 is pledged by Friday Jan 25, 8:59am EST. Currently, they have not yet achieved their goal. This is a cool accessory for improving your raw images . I really hope this gets funded.
You can pledge here on the iPhone 5 Trygger Camera Clip Kickstarter page. There’s a lot more information there as well. More information can also be found on the Trygger website.
UPDATE 01.25.13: With 30 minutes left to go, it looks like this Kickstarter has reached its goal and will get funded! =M=
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