Moment iPhone 6 lens add-ons are big, bold and feel a bit dangerous

Moment Lens asks the question: How committed are you to high-quality iPhone photography?
Its two, $99-a piece iPhone 6 add-on lenses require a special, bayonet-style mount that you have to basically glue onto your iPhone. Putting anything on your brand-new device that can’t be slipped off is, well, a major commitment.
Once you get over that hurdle, though, Moment Lens provides something that competitors like Olloclip, which just released its own iPhone 6 add-on lenses, do not: The ability to keep using the iPhone 6 cases you love (as long as they’re not too thick) and the new lenses at the same time. They also sell mounting plates for iPads and Google’s Nexus 5. Additional plates cost $9 and you can use the same lens with all of the plates.

Set-up

The lenses, a 60 mm 2X telephoto and an 18 mm wide angle are completely self-contained. Each product ships in an elegant black box. The special plate is bundled with it in a think black envelope that includes an extra set of adhesive 3M tape.

The Moment lens mount sticks right on the back of your iPhone 6

Image: Mashable, Christina Ascani

To put it together, you clean the back of your iPhone 6 with a soft, dry cloth, peel the protective covering off the back of the small, thin, black mounting plate and then very carefully position the plate on the back of your iPhone.
I found this part a bit nerve-racking, because if I got the alignment wrong, the big lens would not line up with the iPhone 6’s smaller iSight lens. I managed, though to get it right on the first try. I then had to hold my fingers on it for 30 minutes to make sure it was secure.

The Moment mount plate only sticks out a millimeter or so from the back of the iPhone.

Image: Mashable, Christina Ascani

Once on, the Moment Lens plate adds just a millimeter to the top section of the phone. Around the lens, though, the mounting system sticks out an additional millimeter and, because of its functional design, feels almost unfinished.
The good news is that as soon as you slip back on a case – I use an Apple silicon one – those two millimeters disappear. The mount is slightly visible through the camera, flash and microphone cutout in the case and will be usable with the lens, but it is no longer noticeable.
Mounting the Moment Lens, though, does take some practice. Each lens has a small gray dot printed on the back. You have to line that up so it’s pointing toward the left edge of the iPhone 6 (in the direction of the side featuring the power button). Then you place the lens mount into the hole on the faceplate and twist gently to the right. At first I couldn’t properly seat the lens and then I kept attaching it at an angle. Eventually, though, I got the hang of placing and twisting and soon was almost expert at mounting the Tele and the Wide.

Hot shots

Moment_Lens on iPhone 6 looks a little awkward, but is very secure.

Both Moment lenses are noticeably larger than similar ones from Olloclip, so they look almost comical attached to the back of the iPhone 6. Still, they felt completely secure and both helped me take better photos.