Reef Ready Smartphone Lens Kit from Oceanbox Designs

15 Apr, 2022

Highlights of the new ReefLens MKII PRO 7 Lenses Kit from Oceanbox Designs
Highlights of the new ReefLens MKII PRO 7 Lenses Kit from Oceanbox Designs

via Ocean Box Designs

The new ReefLens MKII PRO 7 Lenses Kit by Oceanbox Designs® is one of the most versatile cell phone photographic lens kits to date, professionally designed for your reef aquarium (Developed, Optimized, and Tested in Texas). If you are a reefer and a photographic enthusiast, or you just don’t feel like busting out your full DSLR camera gears every time just for an Instagram post, then this kit is for you!

There are 7 lenses in the ReefLens MKII Pro kit, offering over 60 possible lens configurations by stacking the lenses to provide an ample playing field that will get you closer to your ideal shot!

The new ReefLens MKII PRO 7 Lenses Kit from Oceanbox Design, specifically designed for reef aquarium photography, expands the photographic capabilities of many smartphones. Shown here are a universal mount, 3 macro diopters, and 3 custom actinic filters. A circular polarizing filter is the 7th lens component.

Not Simply Rebranded Lenses

“These are not all readily available parts that are just rebranded,” says Oceanbox Design founder Phuong Truong. “The stackable macro diopter lenses [are an existing product], but we also added multi-coating for anti-reflective properties and enhanced light transmission that most cheaper lenses don’t have. While we do not make this kit in-house, they’re custom-made by our partner lenses manufacturer exclusively for Oceanbox Designs.

ReefLens MKII lenses being prepared for special multi-coating at the manufacturer.
ReefLens MKII lenses being prepared for special multi-coating at the manufacturer.

Further differentiating the new offering from Oceanbox Designs, Truong explained that the actinic filters in the kit are not simply off-the-shelf color filters. “I have spent a good amount of time developing and testing variations of the actinic filters by matching Pantone color codes to filter density, which was then matched to the reef lights spectrum settings ranging from 12,000K to 20,000K. This is how we created optimized filters, as opposed to offering generic orange/yellow filters.”

Lens Mounting

“Don’t overlook our lens mount,” Truong remarked. “That’s also a much better design. Unlike low quality (weak) clip-on mounts, our lens mount has a stronger tension spring and a locking thumbscrew to ensure a secure fitment so there is no chance of any unwanted movement during a shoot.”

Camera Compatibility

Truong noted that the new lens kit is compatible with most types of smartphones, both iOS and Android. “[The lens kit] works up to the latest iPhone 13. It will use the main wide camera. If there’s an automatic camera feature, that just needs to be disabled, that’s all! I’m using Samsung S9 exclusively for filming and photography with it. I found the [Samsung] color rendering is far superior to the iPhone.”

Watch the lens kit in action!

The new smartphone lens kit for reef aquarists is currently retailing for $59.99 on the Oceanbox Designs website. For more information including camera instructions and product details, visit the ReefLens MKII Pro product page at Oceanbox Designs.

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About the author

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Matt Pedersen

Matt Pedersen is a Sr. Editor and Associate Publisher with Reef To Rainforest Media, LLC & CORAL Magazines, and is a Sr. Editor and Publishing Partner with Aquatic Media Press, LLC & AMAZONAS Magazine. Matt has kept aquariums for 38 years, has worked in most facets of the aquarium trade, is an active aquarist and fish breeder (both marine and freshwater), and was recognized with the 2009 MASNA Award as the MASNA Aquarist of the Year.

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