Perhaps the most incredible explanation of the iPhone’s MagSafe feature.
Here’s an idea. Adding an array of magnets to the back of the iPhone so you can attach a card holder seems like a massive waste of capacity, right? You can use the MagSafe feature (and even allow the iPhone to be detected and paired via NFC/Bluetooth), an external hard drive, a better speaker, or potentially a bigger, more professional- Grades can attach a lot of accessories through the camera lens. Meet SCIO, a MagSafe camera lens from the mind of Vladimir Ferr. Sure, your iPhone’s cameras are arguably the best on the market already, but when has that stopped Apple from pushing the boundaries further? Taking inspiration from Sony’s QX10 and QX100 modular camera lenses, the SCIO is a mirrorless lens that easily attaches to your iPhone via MagSafe. Snap it and your smartphone is now a professional shooter capable of more realistic portrait shots and telephoto images. Combine this with Apple’s own computational photography chops and the SCIO turns the iPhone into easily the best camera a consumer can own, without breaking the bank.
Designer: Vladimir Ferro
With a much larger lens and sensor, SCIO’s imaging system is capable of capturing much more light than the iPhone 13’s multiple lenses. This allows for better photos, more detail, higher-resolution low-light shots, and much more accurate bokeh. SCIO’s camera lens uses your iPhone’s display as a viewfinder, and can potentially draw battery power from the iPhone via reverse charging, so you don’t need to charge the camera lens separately. It also means being able to manually adjust your camera’s settings, such as its focus, aperture, ISO, and shutter speed something that’s not really straightforward with the iPhone’s native camera app. It truly brings traditional mirrorless/DSLR-style photography to the iPhone, allowing professionals to get the most out of their smartphone camera. In addition, while SCIO is capturing images, the iPhone’s own camera lens can record depth, HDR information, and other details such as small details to help enrich the final picture. The lens also features a tripod mount, bringing the traditional and computational camera experiences even closer!
Although the SCIO lens can be attached directly to the back of the iPhone, it’s best paired with a companion case that comes with an improved grip and a physical shutter button. There are a few details in the lens itself that upgrade your photography experience from a tiny screen that displays your active camera settings to an adjustment ring to control focus or zoom. In the spirit of modularity, the SCIO lets you attach the hood and filter using a magnetic system on the front. The same magnet system lets you attach the lens cap when you’re not actively using the lens.
What SCIO does, in addition to bridging the gap between mirrorless and smartphone photography, brings a whole new dimension to MagSafe’s capabilities. Sure, you can attach a card case or charger to the back of your iPhone, but it’s like using a desktop with a high-end GPU to play solitaire.
Although it doesn’t seem likely that Apple will create such a concept, the beauty of SCIO’s underlying idea is that Apple doesn’t need to do anything. Third-party companies like Moment or Zeiss (or even Leica, considering how the two companies are intertwined) can develop their own hardware and just build an app Which pairs via Bluetooth with the Lens module to stream video directly to the iPhone. This is a camera revolution just waiting to happen!
