Using the Wide Angle for Non-Selfies

It's early and it might seem I'm getting ahead of things a bit, but the color and dynamic range out of the front wide angle lens is looking pretty impressive. At 8MP, I'd have no bones about printing up to 10X10, and with a little magic even squeezing out a vinyl sleeve (albeit perhaps with a slight border on it).

With that in mind, I'm looking for creative ways to use the wide angle lens as a non-selfie lens. I'd like a way to see what I'm composing, without looking incredibly awkward trying to look at the screen on the front of the phone, stepping out of frame then shooting. So, some sort of wireless, remote dongle that lets me see in real time what my Pixel 3 lens is seeing.

I have a Samung S3 Frontier and of course my current phone that the Pixel will replace.

Any thoughts on a remote view, or creative way to see what I'm composing before I push the shutter button?

Cheers

Honestly, you could invest in a Moment lens and case and be very happy. They have a wide angle lens (really big one) that you can attach to it. Since the rear camera is just one camera, it fits the Moment lenses very well.

Originally Posted by ZMan1092

Honestly, you could invest in a Moment lens and case and be very happy. They have a wide angle lens (really big one) that you can attach to it. Since the rear camera is just one camera, it fits the Moment lenses very well.

Have you actually tried it? I'm more curious about the telephoto version, however I'm concerned about how much light is lost with the extra glass.

Originally Posted by ZMan1092

Honestly, you could invest in a Moment lens and case and be very happy. They have a wide angle lens (really big one) that you can attach to it. Since the rear camera is just one camera, it fits the Moment lenses very well.

Paying an extra $130 for an already expensive phone is out of pocket. May as well buy an LG phone.

Originally Posted by marcus.plans

Paying an extra $130 for an already expensive phone is out of pocket. May as well buy an LG phone.

That's one way of looking at it if you're willing to give up all the other differences to get a wide angle shot. Wide angle shots and telephoto shots are fun but it's all a matter of what features are deal breakers or not. Adding a lens on top of a lens is certainly not the most ideal or convenient solution.

Originally Posted by Mike Dee

Have you actually tried it? I'm more curious about the telephoto version, however I'm concerned about how much light is lost with the extra glass.

This. The add-on has been a brief thought and might work for stills, but for a lot of what I do I really can't afford the extra stop in light loss. I piddle with a lot of night time, low light concert/venue photography. Using this example shot (which probably won't downsize well here), the crowd is underexposed as it is.

Night Sight has a lot of potential which I'm looking forward to using, but in the same image scenario, I need to reduce the exposure time as much as possible and not have multiple frames, otherwise the musician may be a blur or his position less than optimal.

Originally Posted by TrueBlueKew

This. The add-on has been a brief thought and might work for stills, but for a lot of what I do I really can't afford the extra stop in light loss. I piddle with a lot of night time, low light concert/venue photography. Using this example shot (which probably won't downsize well here), the crowd is underexposed as it is.

Night Sight has a lot of potential which I'm looking forward to using, but in the same image scenario, I need to reduce the exposure time as much as possible and not have multiple frames, otherwise the musician may be a blur or his position less than optimal.

I know with DSLRs the teleconvertors used to lose at least a full stop. If you're doing daylight work it's not so bad but you lose sharpness also especially if it's cheap glass.

Originally Posted by Mike Dee

I know with DSLRs the teleconvertors used to lose at least a full stop. If you're doing daylight work it's not so bad but you lose sharpness also especially if it's cheap glass.

And that's the other thing. Adding another layer of (potentially cheap) glass in front of an already not so high-end camera phone lens. I'm admittedly intrigued with the add-on lenses and would love to take them for a test drive, and share my work/findings and any decent shots I might come away with. Just not a $130.00 test drive.