Swarovski, if you don’t know that name you have never encountered anything fancy at all. For those still not in the loop, Swarovski is famous for its pricy crystals, but also for SWAROVSKI OPTIK. The tack sharp optics company. In fact, when I told my grandfather, an avid nature lover and schooled expert, I would be testing a pair of Swarovski Optics binoculars he was more excited than I was.
But what made me so exciting was not the fine pair of binoculars, but the PA-i5 iPhone adapter. Fit for iPhone 5 and 5 S this high-quality case comes with a screw-on round, making it a breeze to place your favourite smartphone on a high-quality telescope or binoculars.
The case itself is built from a heavy and sturdy aluminium. A nail-tearing lock seals the bumper-style case that features a screw-on metal thingie.
Also included in the package is a lanyard to keep the whole set safely around your neck. Strangely enough they opted for a quick release, which is not something I really crave for in a bumper that holds a 700 euro phone.
Once everything is installed the case does as advertised. It slides right over the ocular, and on the iPhone camera app of your choice we are treated to an extremely crisp image, cut of in a semi-cropped circle.
The images look fantastic and the added zoom range really shows you how wel built both products are.
The thing I didn’t like is that you have to support both a pair of binoculars, as well as the entire iPhone case, combined with juggling the shutter-button on the iPhone. Especially knowing that the combined value of this package will cost about as much as an entry level DSLR and a small tele. Yes, this package won’t come cheap.
The PA-i5 adapter is available for iPhone 5 and iPhone 5 S.
Sample image. Cropped image taken with iPhone 5 S. Edited in Photoshop.
