Don't buy these 5 smartphone photography gadgets!

Buying a bunch of add-ons might make you feel more professional, but buying the wrong ones won't improve your photography. Instead, you'll end up wasting money and getting more useless clutter. Here are 5 smartphone photography add-ons you should avoid!

1. Outer lens

You can buy all sorts of external lenses for your phone — telephoto lenses, macro lenses, fisheye lenses — but most of them aren't worth the money.

Many modern smartphone camera lenses are good, especially if you shoot at 0.5 or 1x. While their zoom capabilities are still poor, buying an external lens won't help much. Spending the extra money on a DSLR with an 85mm lens is worth it if you like to shoot faraway subjects.

 

2. External supplementary lights

Taking good photos without considering lighting is difficult, so external fill lights are tempting. But in most cases, they're not necessary for smartphone photography, especially if you're just a casual enthusiast.

Understanding how to get the perfect lighting in your smartphone photos is a much better place to start than buying additional lights from outside. There are plenty of light sources both indoors and outdoors, and you can position your subject to take full advantage of them.

3. Phone gimbal

DSLR cameras have built-in grips for a reason—they make it easier for users to hold and shoot. Some companies have tried to bring a similar experience to smartphones with gimbals, but most fall short.

Many phone gimbals are bulky and surprisingly difficult to hold. These issues make it less likely that you'll use them, which is a waste of money. Since many gimbals are quite expensive, this isn't a good combination.

 

4. Poor quality tripod

Even though smartphones now have good image stabilization, a tripod can still help eliminate blur, especially for long exposure shots. You'll find many great tripods for smartphones.

The problem, however, is that many tripods are of low quality. You will notice the difference in a few ways. First, they are not durable. You will often have to pay more to replace these types of items later.

In addition to being less durable, poor quality tripods are also unstable. For example, they tend to move around in the wind, which defeats the purpose of the tripod. It's best to place your phone on a flat surface.

5. Overly stable equipment

Gimbals and tripods can be great additions to your smartphone photography kit if you invest in a quality one; even better if you also use them for vlogging. However, handheld stabilizers that require you to use both hands are often a waste of money.

Even for video, they're useless. If you're shooting with a smartphone, using one hand to press the shutter is a good idea. Many stabilizers come with additional lights, which you probably won't use very often.

These stabilizers take a lot of time to set up. You have to mount your phone to them every time you shoot, in addition to setting up other features. Because they take so long to set up, you probably won't use them much even after you buy them.