The new accessory lens kit for the iPhone, jointly developed by Zeiss and ExoLens, is the first aspherical lens for mobile photographers. It is a Zeiss Mutar 0.6x Asph T* wide-angle lens, which is available in Apple stores with a price of $199,95.

In addition to the wide-angle lens, Zeiss and ExoLens are also planning to launch a tele and a macro-zoom lens this summer. The series of three high-performance lenses (wide-angle, telephoto and macro) is a new breed of mobile photography optics that will allow the massive community of iPhone photographers and videographers to tell a deeper story with gold-standard gear.

“The joint goal of ExoLens and Zeisss is to bring never-before-seen quality and versatility to the rapidly growing market of mobile photographers and videographers,” says John E. Fellowes, Chief Executive Officer of Fellowes Brands, which owns ExoLens. “The collaboration represents a truly pivotal step in the development of accessory lenses for mobile phones.”

Wide-angle and telephoto lenses feature the same aspherical lens technology that was previously reserved for high-end DSLR cameras and have brought them straight to the Apple iPhone 6/6s and iPhone 6 Plus/6s Plus as a compact mobile accessory lens. All of the lenses also incorporate the proven T* antireflective coating from Zeiss, which minimizes reflections at the glass-to-air surfaces and improves the transmission of light.

“The quality of an image is decisively influenced by the lens and its technical properties,” says Dr. Winfried Scherle, Head of the Zeiss Consumer Optics business group. “The ExoLens with optics by ZEISS series has achieved the best possible technical balance between small size, light weight and high image quality to provide ambitious mobile photographers with top-quality tools to support their creativity.”

The innovative ExoLens bracket, which connects the Zeiss lens to your phone for a truly portable setup, which even fulfills professional demands, is made from precision-machined aluminum and includes soft interior liners to ensure a perfect fit and protection from scratches. The substantial and secure bracket also features an integrated standard tripod mount (1/4”–20) and cold shoe mount, allowing for compatibility with additional accessories such as a microphone or external video light. These wide-angle accessory lens kits include the Zeiss Mutar 0.6x Asph T* wide-angle lens, machined-aluminum ExoLens bracket, soft device-specific liners (for the iPhone 6/iPhone 6s or iPhone 6 Plus/iPhone 6s Plus), lens hood and lens caps, and two microfiber lens pouches.

4K on the iPhone

Leading the collection is the new ExoLens with optics by Zeis Mutar 0.6x Asph T* wide-angle lens. The lens is virtually distortion-free thanks to its aspherical design, has exceptional edge-to-edge contrast and achieves a unique picture quality. The wide-angle lens (35 mm-equivalent focal length f = 18 mm) is ideal for landscape, architecture and creative shots with unusual perspectives. It’s also perfect for the many videographers now filming professional-quality 4K videos on their iPhone, who want a wider shot than their narrow iPhone camera currently offers.

The ExoLens with optics by Zeiss Mutar 0.6x Asph T* wide-angle lens and the telephoto Zeisss Mutar 2.0x Asph T* (35 mm-equivalent focal length f = 56 mm ) lens both feature an afocal optical design, which is different to traditional interchangeable lenses for system cameras. This means the lenses have infinite focal length, i.e. the focus is set at infinity. This enables photography of objects from infinity to the close-up range, the limits of which are defined only by the technical properties of the mobile phone camera.

Protection against dust and water spray makes the wide-angle and telephoto lenses perfect for the challenges of outdoor use. Meanwhile, the macro lens is the first and only mobile lens to offer continuous focus adjustment function, giving a 40–80 mm focal length (35-mm equivalent). This enables the full-frame capture of objects with diameters of between three and twelve centimeters. An optionally attachable and semi-transparent diffuser serves as a spacer, allowing light to shine evenly on the object and enables convenient focusing, even with a short object distance and shallow depth of field.