Do Third-Party Lenses Work on the iPhone 17 Pro Max?

Whenever a new iPhone is released everyone who owns third-party lenses always worries about whether or not these expensive accessories will work with the latest cameras.

It's a real concern as lenses in the past did not upgrade well, which is really a unique problem to smartphones. Typically lenses are a great investment with tradtional cameras as they'll basically last forever. And if you change camera bodies (and lens mounts) you can often adapt them or just sell them. With phones you can't adapt them and then the resell market is there, but it's for people using older phones - so they're not worth as much. So in my experience they just end up stored in a drawer in my studio.

Maybe one day someone will build a "mobile filmmaking" museum and I'll donate all the lenses and cases and cages I have lying around. :)

So in saying all this, I finally got cases for the 17 Pro Max and was able to do some testing. I broke it into two videos that you can watch below.

Here's Part 1:

And here's Part 2:

Please note that these are not scientific tests and I actually prefer real-world tests to pixel peeping.

In a perfect world I would have a large focus chart so I could fill the entire frame with the chart (I might eventually buy one, but they're pricey). But I don't have one and these small charts work fine overall, especially on the tighter shots and pushed in with the 48mm camera (also the wider lenses have all been sharp edge-to-edge forever). So here, looking at basic sharpness (or softness) and chromatic aberration can be useful, especially based on past issues I've had with third-party lenses and new iPhones.

I will be doing more tests in the future with other brands including Beastgrip and Freewell, so if you're not subscribed already to my YouTube channel please do!

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If you've followed me for a while you know I made a feature film called Casey Makes a Mixtape that was partially shot on an iPhone, and now that movie is streaming on Amazon, Apple TV, Fandango at Home, YouTube Movies and Google Play.

Would be great if you'd check it out!

If you want the highest quality, Apple TV offers it in 4K with 5.1 surround and so does Fandango. The other platforms all look great too, but they're in HD. Thanks for supporting indie film. :)

Direct links to each VOD platform:

• https://geni.us/CaseyAppleTV (4K)

• https://geni.us/CaseyAmazon 

• https://geni.us/CaseyYouTube 

• https://geni.us/CaseyGooglePlay 

• https://geni.us/CaseyFandango (4K)

Happy filmmaking!

-BC