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There is no denying that, for many of us, our phones have become our default cameras. And why not? The actual hardware is decent, and we always have our phones with us – which means we always have a camera with us. While I’ve still got a DSLR that I use, the phone does take 75% of my photos these days. One thing it’s missing, though, are those physical controls a camera has. Enter the Fjorden.
With the Fjorden, you’ve got a small grip that fits onto the back of your phone (with a backing plate onto any iPhone, or with their Magsafe case) that is powered by a simple coin cell, and gives you some useful functionality. Here’s what those buttons can do:
- Two-Stage Shutter Button: Just like your real camera: Half-press to focus, full-press to capture the image.
- Customizable Control Dial: Easily adjust exposure, shutter speed, ISO, portrait mode aperture, manual focus, and other parameters without changing your hand position.
- Multi-Function Button: you choose what it does – Trigger portrait mode or selfie mode, select flash mode, or switch between other custom settings.
- Zoom Lever: Quickly switch between iPhone lenses, or smoothly zoom in and out.
In other words, the Fjorden gives you a lot more control, along with a slightly more ergonomic one-handed grip for your phone. As it’s communicating via bluetooth, it can also function as a remote trigger if you’ve got the phone setup on an tripod.
It’s not all hardware, though – they’ve got an app that goes along with it (need to customize those buttons somehow), and it can still work with other hardware. Sounds great, right? I agree, it seems like a great way to improve your photography. However, this is not for the casual shutterbug. The base version comes in at $142, while the version with the MagSafe case runs $166. Not the end of the world when compared to the price of a modern iPhone, but not quite impulse buy either, especially for a brand you may never have heard of before.
The campaign is waaaayyy over-funded, with things wrapping up on August 14, 2021. Past that, delivery is anticipated for February 2022, so you’ll have time to get familiar with the device before you start out on those spring hikes. campaign page
