As is typical in the UK, I look out my window at a 'Stranger Things'-style blanket of gloomy clouds and relentless rain. However, I now have a lens I never knew I needed to cheer me up—Moment’s new T-Series Wide-angle lens. After four days of waiting, the skies cleared, and the sun invited me to test this lens. In all honesty, I was always of the opinion that I would never need a wide-angle lens. My iPhone 15 Pro has both a Wide and an Ultra-Wide lens, so what would be the benefit of a third option? Would it not just be a waste of money? It's time to find out!
Meet our 18mm Wide Lens, the perfect wide-angle lens for mobile photographers and filmmakers. Instead of the usual distorted ultra-wide shots from your phone, this gem offers a beautifully broad yet g...
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With this in mind, I immediately started shooting video clips with this lens. The ease of using the bayonet mounting lens on the case is one of the reasons I have loved shooting with Moment's lenses since I started filmmaking four years ago. That quickness and ease of setting up the lens means I (almost) never miss a shot. The bayonet mount system lets the lens slide onto the phone case easily while maintaining a tight grip. Even after a rigorous shake of the phone, the lens held firm. I first noticed how slick it looks right out of the box. While the image quality is paramount, the look of the lens is also important. We eat with our eyes first, so looks are important even in filmmaking accessories.
The glass is incredibly well-crafted, and the lens build is of such high quality that this professional lens feels great in my hand.
As I roamed my local park and streets, I quickly noticed two major benefits to using the Moment Wide 18mm lens. Firstly, it gives you a third option when using a wide shot. Its phenomenal glass quality captures a wider shot than the built-in wide lens. No big deal? Well, actually, it really is. As a smartphone filmmaker, versatility is paramount. The more options I have to tell a story, the better I can craft it for an audience. While it isn’t as wide as the built-in Ultra-Wide lens of my iPhone 15 Pro, it leads me nicely onto its second benefit.
This mobile 18mm wide-angle lens performs much better in low light than the built-in ultra-wide. Using this lens over the 48MP built-in wide lens allows you to take in more light, resulting in a brighter and much cleaner image than the built-in ultra-wide lens while capturing a stunning 100-degree field of view. This enables you to capture those special moments in trickier conditions with cinema-grade glass, all within that phone in your pocket. This is actually the reason I always advise fellow smartphone filmmakers to use external lenses. If you want the most professional-looking footage or photos, then realistically, you need to invest a little.
Before I knew it, I was having a great old time filming anything and everything I could — from streams to grand buildings and even enormous oak trees. No matter what I shot, I was having fun — something I never thought I’d say about a wide-angle lens. The quality of the shots is superb, and they are sharp from corner to corner, too. Not to mention, there were some very beautiful lens flares when using the sunlight at the right angles behind my subject.
This lens is so versatile that it lends itself to many forms of filmmaking. As a narrative filmmaker myself, it gives me a fantastic alternative to the ultra-wide, maintaining clarity even in lower-light situations. Having options and flexibility is key in smartphone filmmaking, as, by nature, things can be pretty run-and-gun.
The T-Series 18mm wide-angle lens is also a brilliant option for vlogging. It captures twice the field of view compared to the built-in wide lens. This allows you to be present in front of the camera for your audience while maintaining the visuals of your environment in the background. While the built-in ultra-wide lens of the iPhone 15 Pro is pretty good, this wide lens feels (and looks) more professional.
This lens would also be perfect for real estate videos. As I filmed various angles of buildings, such as this church, the lens really complemented everything I shot.
Overall, the Moment Wide-angle lens is the most surprisingly useful lens I have encountered. It’s such a nice option compared to the built-in ultra-wide lens of my iPhone 15 Pro. It is much better in low light, easy to use, with a high-quality design, and built to last. What’s not to like? I can’t wait to use this in my films and create stunning lower-light shots in my B-roll sequences.
