iPhone camera accessory review
If you’ve ever dreamed of improving your iPhone’s video and audio recording capabilities with one single accessory, check out the Owle Bubo. The Bubo, which happens to be the name of a very useful mechanical owl in the 1981 film Clash of the Titans, is an aluminum housing that lets you use lenses, mics, and tripods—all at the same time—with your iPhone.
Why ?
Bubo is a solid aluminum housing for the iPhone. With your own Bubo, you also get a 37 mm .45x wide-angle/macro combo lens, external microphone, silicone case, carrying pouch for the lens caps, and cleaning cloth. It provides customization options you probably thought you couldn’t have with merely one item. With it, you can even take advantage of other accessories you may already have around.
What we love
Bubo is well designed. It looks a little like the classic Batman logo, only pudgier and with fewer digits. The shape allows you to easily fit Bubo in your hands, and the whole thing can even stand on its own. Another great thing about the design is it leaves the headset jack, dock connector, ring/silent switch, and volume buttons unblocked, so if your iPhone is stuck inside, you can still do all the things you need to do—disable sounds, recharge the battery, etc.
Aside from the iPhone mount, Bubo also has a cold shoe mount and four female tripod mounts, two at the bottom of the handles and another two at the top of the handles. Just imagine the things you can do with those—you can seriously have fun shooting at every possible angle. Add a monopod to do Sam Raimi-esque camera shots, or pop a flash unit on to take photos and videos even in low-light conditions.
As mentioned, the set includes lens, which are detachable standard 37 mm lens. This, of course, means you can replace it with your favorite lens if you want to. At 5 megapixels, the iPhone’s camera is certainly decent for a cell phone camera, but with your favorite lens on, you’ll definitely enjoy better field of view and image resolution with each shot you take.
What we don’t love
The Bubo is brilliantly designed, but a few things about it still need improvement. For one, it is quite heavy. It stabilizes your hold, but use it long enough and your arms will ache. The iPhone mount is also hardly secure, relying solely on friction to keep your phone in place. That’s what the silicone case is for, and that’s the only thing you get. No lock, no tape, nothing.
The end game
Overall, the Bubo is a pretty solid accessory that does what it’s supposed to do. If price won’t be an issue, most folks (possibly even professional photographers and videographers) will appreciate having a Bubo around for those spontaneous photo shoots requiring that extra touch of sophistication.