sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
So Icecap is basically have a 20% off everything they sell until August 31st (I think) so in order to get free shipping at a BRS order I tossed one of these in, normally $30 but for me $24, so only cost me $24 to save $6 in a shipping 
... but I did want something like this anyways, so it's all good, this is on par price wise with the rando-named Amazon ones although some of those give you like 10 lenses, which may not really be needed for my purpose.
Either way, here's the kit, comes with a yellow "lens" (filter) which is labelled 20000K, an orange lens (15000K) both come in a nice little protective case, this also comes with a "wide angle macrolens" which is pretty flipping huge compared to the other two lenses but it does have clip on covers to protect it, also comes with a microfiber cloth to clean with, and of course the clip on part
It fits most every standard phone, I think some of the later Samsung Galaxy phones the camera may be a little too centered or something and won't work, with my Galaxy S8+ it just barely goes over the camera lens. You can stack the lenses by screwing them into one another, and I assume this lens size is a standard lens size so you can potentially get other ones if your needs change.
First the macro lens, while I don't have an aquarium with glass sides (if you don't know, don't ask), I thought I'd do the next best thing, take a photo of a ruler with a 1/2mm divisions.
For those who don't know what "macro" means it basically allows you to focus at a distance closer than your eyes normally can focus with normal vision (if you're nearsighted you naturally have macro lens vision), the effect of this is you can see the object (coral in this case) much larger than you normally could so you tend to see a lot of detail in it you may not ordinarily see, i.e. in a mushroom you might notice the surface is textured but with a macro you can see individual little bumps that make up that texture, a nice effect to be sure but due to the nature of it it needs to be something close to the camera to take which means it needs to be close to the tank or the surface (if using a top-down box of some sort).
The top image is without any lens, camera centered over the 3cm mark, bottom is with the macro lens centered over the same spot. As you can see it definitely is a wide angle lens, but I'm not sure that's necessarily a necessary thing. Right at the 3cm mark you definitely can see the divisions much clearer but only right in front, as you go further out the distance to the camera sensor increases so the macro goes out of focus. For the life of me I'm not sure why they would do a wide angle macro lens just for this very reason.
Now for some in tank shots, the first set is the "daytime" which is close to the AB+ setting for Radions, basically 100% blues/violets and I think 24% whites, this actually has a nice crisp white light with a hint of blue that I like without going completely overboard with white light.
No filter
Yellow "20kK" filter
Orange "15kK" filter
Both filters
So I chose this picture because it has a lot of everything in it, purple coraline, green rhodactis, red cyano, as well as some zoas of an assortment of colors. Now the no filter one is very much overly blue, not what it looks like to me. Now I've heard this is because camera sensors tend to get very overloaded with blue so everything oversaturates, some of it could also be how humans perceive colors too as what it looks like to may may not be the same way you see it, and lastly the human brain does have a natural white balance if you've ever gone snowboarding/skiing with colored goggles you'll notice after a while snow looks white again instead of goggle colored, and for an extra fun trick take your goggles off and that filter your brain put on will still be there and the "white" snow will look the opposite color spectrum of your goggle lens. But overall, I would say the "both" is closest to what it looks like to me, the yellow is still a little too much blue to me but... (see above brain filter comment) and the orange filter looks overly white like that white I try to stay away from.
Now for some night shots, where all the white diodes are off and all we're left with is blues and violets, which the overall look of the tank is quite blue but the fluorescence of the corals do pop, it's just that blue/purple colored things just look dark. The same general area as previous set
No filter
Yellow filter
Orange filter
Both filters
Now here's where the filters act a bit weird, because where as before I could very easily say "that filter is real color" here the color of the coral is going to dictate which filter is more "real". The no filter one is what it is, sensor is just blasted with blue/violet and it's garbage pictures. Here the yellow filter definitely makes the orange fluorescing zoas (center and bottom left) look more real, but the green ones are not quite there, and the orange acan (top center) which doesn't fluoresce very much just looks drab, the yellow/green mushrooms (right) are close but not quite. Now the orange and "both" both look very similar in this case, and greens/yellows definitely are more true color (mushrooms, zoas) but the other colors I feel like someone is using a hilighter to spiff them up, oranges zoas are way too and the other ones (vamp in drag? or something?) just are a bit too vibrant for me to call "real". The acans are close though, but they go a little too far orange I feel.
Now some really close shots, these of some acros in the center of the lagoon, and I didn't notice until after but an orange monti in the background which actually is very useful since it doesn't fluoresce terribly much either a little bit to notice the orange but not crazy bright.
No filter
Yellow filter
Orange filter
Both filters
So once again no filter looks like hot garbage, you can tell there's a glowy green acro (Green slimer) but can't tell the colors of the one next to it, and the monti in the background is just dark.
The yellow filter tones down the slimer, but those who have it know that it is a vibrant glow, the other coral see some pinks/greens, and the orange monti is recognizable and probably pretty close
The orange filter brings out the colors more the slimer looks better at the base then goes hilighter green up the branch (not real), the pinks/greens of the other acro are actually quite accurate, the monti I think is just a tad too orange here.
Both filters have both acros looking pretty true to form, slimer gonna green! Monti still overly orange. And bonus off to the left a crazy colored acro frag that I have to stare it to figure out what it is, I normally don't stare at the tank when it's all blue so that looks a little foreign to me, so I don't know if that's "fake color" or not... definitely look multi-hundred $ per frag colored though
One last set of pictures, what I call the setosa test. Those of you with a montipora setosa know that it's a brighter orange than most other plating montis as a result it's a good judge of orange here...
Yellow filter
Orange filter
Both filters
Didn't take one without a filter, but you can imagine it would look pretty dark blue/violet.
The yellow filter is the most accurate color rendition of the setosa, that is the orange color that it is teetering almost into a reddish orange but not quite. the little acro near it though that is green is just washed out.
The orange and both filters the setosa color has coral farmer fake written all over it, it does not look that vibrant of an orange not even in white light. The green acro is a little better but still looks over saturated in the middle, the color on dark centered orange zoas in the top right is real close maybe a little too bright, but closer than the yellow, but the smaller cluster of zoas right below that are very much over done.
Verdict
Would I recommend this to others, if you want to take pictures of your aquarium with a phone, 100% absolutely... other kits though probably are similar. Polyp labs has a similar kit except their filter is a 15k/20k hybrid (so I'm guessing the "both" that I use), and they have a macro lens that looks much smaller, at $35 eh, it's up to you. You can also find ones on Amazon though too just need to filter through the noise to find what you need, but at the end of the day it's going to be $5-10 difference or so one way or the other so do what feels good for you.
It should fit most phones, but if you have a particularly new one with a camera in a non-standard place maybe not. My phone it barely fits and I have a super thin "case" on it (protects corners from drops with a grip surface, but if you have a bulky case (otterbox or so) then the clip may not fit on, so keep that in consideration.
But yeah, showing off your tank in a tank journal or taking a video with your phone this is almost necessary unless your phone has some serious white balancing to it. How true to color are things, well like I said somethings it was better than others, it seemed the yellow filter was better for orange colored things, and the orange filter was better for greens/pinks and tended to make oranges a bit too orange especially if they fluoresce quite a bit. Different people have different eyesight too, so what I say is "real" may not be "real" to someone else, especially if they have any color blindness. But if you want to have a zoom meeting tank tour... this is probably a must, unless you go heavy white.
... but I did want something like this anyways, so it's all good, this is on par price wise with the rando-named Amazon ones although some of those give you like 10 lenses, which may not really be needed for my purpose.Either way, here's the kit, comes with a yellow "lens" (filter) which is labelled 20000K, an orange lens (15000K) both come in a nice little protective case, this also comes with a "wide angle macrolens" which is pretty flipping huge compared to the other two lenses but it does have clip on covers to protect it, also comes with a microfiber cloth to clean with, and of course the clip on part
It fits most every standard phone, I think some of the later Samsung Galaxy phones the camera may be a little too centered or something and won't work, with my Galaxy S8+ it just barely goes over the camera lens. You can stack the lenses by screwing them into one another, and I assume this lens size is a standard lens size so you can potentially get other ones if your needs change.
First the macro lens, while I don't have an aquarium with glass sides (if you don't know, don't ask), I thought I'd do the next best thing, take a photo of a ruler with a 1/2mm divisions.
For those who don't know what "macro" means it basically allows you to focus at a distance closer than your eyes normally can focus with normal vision (if you're nearsighted you naturally have macro lens vision
), the effect of this is you can see the object (coral in this case) much larger than you normally could so you tend to see a lot of detail in it you may not ordinarily see, i.e. in a mushroom you might notice the surface is textured but with a macro you can see individual little bumps that make up that texture, a nice effect to be sure but due to the nature of it it needs to be something close to the camera to take which means it needs to be close to the tank or the surface (if using a top-down box of some sort).
The top image is without any lens, camera centered over the 3cm mark, bottom is with the macro lens centered over the same spot. As you can see it definitely is a wide angle lens, but I'm not sure that's necessarily a necessary thing. Right at the 3cm mark you definitely can see the divisions much clearer but only right in front, as you go further out the distance to the camera sensor increases so the macro goes out of focus. For the life of me I'm not sure why they would do a wide angle macro lens just for this very reason.
Now for some in tank shots, the first set is the "daytime" which is close to the AB+ setting for Radions, basically 100% blues/violets and I think 24% whites, this actually has a nice crisp white light with a hint of blue that I like without going completely overboard with white light.
No filter
Yellow "20kK" filter
Orange "15kK" filter
Both filters
So I chose this picture because it has a lot of everything in it, purple coraline, green rhodactis, red cyano, as well as some zoas of an assortment of colors. Now the no filter one is very much overly blue, not what it looks like to me. Now I've heard this is because camera sensors tend to get very overloaded with blue so everything oversaturates, some of it could also be how humans perceive colors too as what it looks like to may may not be the same way you see it, and lastly the human brain does have a natural white balance if you've ever gone snowboarding/skiing with colored goggles you'll notice after a while snow looks white again instead of goggle colored, and for an extra fun trick take your goggles off and that filter your brain put on will still be there and the "white" snow will look the opposite color spectrum of your goggle lens. But overall, I would say the "both" is closest to what it looks like to me, the yellow is still a little too much blue to me but... (see above brain filter comment) and the orange filter looks overly white like that white I try to stay away from.
Now for some night shots, where all the white diodes are off and all we're left with is blues and violets, which the overall look of the tank is quite blue but the fluorescence of the corals do pop, it's just that blue/purple colored things just look dark. The same general area as previous set
No filter
Yellow filter
Orange filter
Both filters
Now here's where the filters act a bit weird, because where as before I could very easily say "that filter is real color" here the color of the coral is going to dictate which filter is more "real". The no filter one is what it is, sensor is just blasted with blue/violet and it's garbage pictures. Here the yellow filter definitely makes the orange fluorescing zoas (center and bottom left) look more real, but the green ones are not quite there, and the orange acan (top center) which doesn't fluoresce very much just looks drab, the yellow/green mushrooms (right) are close but not quite. Now the orange and "both" both look very similar in this case, and greens/yellows definitely are more true color (mushrooms, zoas) but the other colors I feel like someone is using a hilighter to spiff them up, oranges zoas are way too and the other ones (vamp in drag? or something?) just are a bit too vibrant for me to call "real". The acans are close though, but they go a little too far orange I feel.
Now some really close shots, these of some acros in the center of the lagoon, and I didn't notice until after but an orange monti in the background which actually is very useful since it doesn't fluoresce terribly much either a little bit to notice the orange but not crazy bright.
No filter
Yellow filter
Orange filter
Both filters
So once again no filter looks like hot garbage, you can tell there's a glowy green acro (Green slimer) but can't tell the colors of the one next to it, and the monti in the background is just dark.
The yellow filter tones down the slimer, but those who have it know that it is a vibrant glow, the other coral see some pinks/greens, and the orange monti is recognizable and probably pretty close
The orange filter brings out the colors more the slimer looks better at the base then goes hilighter green up the branch (not real), the pinks/greens of the other acro are actually quite accurate, the monti I think is just a tad too orange here.
Both filters have both acros looking pretty true to form, slimer gonna green! Monti still overly orange. And bonus off to the left a crazy colored acro frag that I have to stare it to figure out what it is, I normally don't stare at the tank when it's all blue so that looks a little foreign to me, so I don't know if that's "fake color" or not... definitely look multi-hundred $ per frag colored though
One last set of pictures, what I call the setosa test. Those of you with a montipora setosa know that it's a brighter orange than most other plating montis as a result it's a good judge of orange here...
Yellow filter
Orange filter
Both filters
Didn't take one without a filter, but you can imagine it would look pretty dark blue/violet.
The yellow filter is the most accurate color rendition of the setosa, that is the orange color that it is teetering almost into a reddish orange but not quite. the little acro near it though that is green is just washed out.
The orange and both filters the setosa color has coral farmer fake written all over it, it does not look that vibrant of an orange not even in white light. The green acro is a little better but still looks over saturated in the middle, the color on dark centered orange zoas in the top right is real close maybe a little too bright, but closer than the yellow, but the smaller cluster of zoas right below that are very much over done.
Verdict
Would I recommend this to others, if you want to take pictures of your aquarium with a phone, 100% absolutely... other kits though probably are similar. Polyp labs has a similar kit except their filter is a 15k/20k hybrid (so I'm guessing the "both" that I use), and they have a macro lens that looks much smaller, at $35 eh, it's up to you. You can also find ones on Amazon though too just need to filter through the noise to find what you need, but at the end of the day it's going to be $5-10 difference or so one way or the other so do what feels good for you.
It should fit most phones, but if you have a particularly new one with a camera in a non-standard place maybe not. My phone it barely fits and I have a super thin "case" on it (protects corners from drops with a grip surface, but if you have a bulky case (otterbox or so) then the clip may not fit on, so keep that in consideration.
But yeah, showing off your tank in a tank journal or taking a video with your phone this is almost necessary unless your phone has some serious white balancing to it. How true to color are things, well like I said somethings it was better than others, it seemed the yellow filter was better for orange colored things, and the orange filter was better for greens/pinks and tended to make oranges a bit too orange especially if they fluoresce quite a bit. Different people have different eyesight too, so what I say is "real" may not be "real" to someone else, especially if they have any color blindness. But if you want to have a zoom meeting tank tour... this is probably a must, unless you go heavy white.
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