Accessory brand PGYTech recently launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter called "RetroVa Vintage Imaging Kit".Crowdfunding ProjectIt was announced that the "telephoto extension experience," originally designed for flagship Android phones such as the vivo X300 Pro and OPPO Find X9 Pro, will be officially brought to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro series.
In recent years, Chinese mobile phone brands such as vivo, OPPO, and Xiaomi have not only engaged in a design competition on the periscope lens shooting function of their phones, but have also collaborated with accessory and lens manufacturers (such as Zeiss and Hasselblad) to launch exclusive "photography grips" and "external lenses," enabling phones to shoot further, feel more like cameras, and even capture subjects at greater distances.
PGYTech clearly hopes to bring this kind of shooting experience to iPhone models, using dedicated protective cases and accessories, along with teleconverters to extend the shooting distance of the telephoto lens, and a dedicated app to enhance the telephoto shooting effect.
2.35x optical zoom, turning your iPhone into a super telephoto lens.
The core design of PGYTech's kit is to physically extend the shooting focal length of the iPhone's telephoto lens by installing a 2.35x telephoto lens through a dedicated phone case mount.
In addition to the lens, the kit also includes a retro-style camera grip (Camera Grip). This grip not only has a built-in battery to charge the phone, but also features a physical shutter button, a parameter adjustment dial, and even a micro SD memory card slot, allowing users to directly store captured images on the memory card.
Aiming for flagship Android experience, but software is the biggest difference.
Those familiar with PGYTech will know that they previously released similar official accessories for vivo and OPPO flagship models. This time, the iPhone version almost completely inherits the same design language. However, the biggest difference between the two lies in the "software integration."
• Android version:Because it's an official collaboration, vivo or OPPO's native camera app can directly identify whether an external teleconverter is installed and make algorithmic corrections.
• iPhone version:Since it is not an Apple-certified (MFi) accessory, users must use the camera app provided by PGYTech to get the best image quality when using the teleconverter, and it cannot be used directly in the iOS native camera.
The early bird price for this product is currently around US$184 (approximately NT$5900), while the regular price is US$229.95.
Analysis of viewpoints
In fact, a simple search on Taobao will reveal a wide variety of external telephoto lenses and teleconverters designed for iPhones.
From universal clip-on lenses costing a few hundred NT dollars to 17mm threaded lenses adapted with dedicated phone cases, and even many cheap white-label products touted as "concert essentials," most of these products increase the shooting focal length through "physical attachments" or by using dedicated phone cases to install filters and grips.
So what's different about PGYTech's product this time? The main differences lie in "systematic integration" and "optical design quality".
Many cheap teleconverters on Taobao often result in poor image quality at the edges, severe chromatic aberration (purple fringing), or misalignment with the optical axis of a phone's main camera. PGYTech, as a brand specializing in drones and photography accessories, offers relatively reliable optical quality. Furthermore, its handle integrates a battery and memory card slot, a design rarely seen in generic "phone case + lens" solutions.
However, for iPhone 17 Pro users, the biggest deterrent is probably the inability to use the native camera. After all, Apple's proud Deep Fusion and Smart HDR are provided in the native algorithms, and switching to a third-party app to shoot will inevitably sacrifice some of the advantages of computational photography.
These types of products are obviously more suitable for hardcore gamers who have an extreme need for "optical zoom" and are willing to spend time making adjustments in post-processing.
