Beastgrip Kickstarter wants to add lenses, mounts, more to any smartphone

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posted Monday, October 7, 2013 at 2:12 PM EDT

 
 

We've seen no shortage of attempts to take smartphones, and turn them into more competent photographic devices by adding lenses, flashes, grips, and more. But the Beastgrip might have them all beat by combining all of those into a modular, adjustable design which will work on any smartphone on the market, and will let you mount third party lenses, too.

Almost $10,000 into its $25,000 goal with 26 days left on the clock, the Beastgrip is a large, ungainly looking cage that sits around your smartphone, but might win fans due to its impressive functionality. By adjusting the mount positions and clamps, it can be tweaked for any smartphone on the market. And since the lens position can be likewise moved, it'll line up perfectly for whatever device you decide to shoot with.

The Beastgrip features five standard ¼”-20 threaded mounts, and a cold-shoe mount, so you can easily attach it to just about any mounting platform, or add any accessory that sits in a cold-shoe. It also features a 37mm threaded lens mount, which means you can mount third-party 37mm lenses, use a step-up ring for 52mm lenses, or even DSLR lenses with a depth of field adapter. There are samples of photos taken with a half-dozen different lenses on the Kickstarter page.

While it might not be the most elegant looking device we've ever seen, you can't complain about an accessory that'll work with just about any smartphone on the market. And if you want one of your own, you'll need to drop a $70 pledge. And judging by the official Tumblr, you can pull of some pretty neat tricks with it.

If you're interested in looking at more Kickstarter projects that have actually succeeded, or starting your own, have a read of some of the success stories from the crowdfunding platform.