I finally remembered to pick up a pocket magnifier loupe from the International Spy Museum store to try as a macro lens on my Sidekick color camera. It works great as you can see. Normally, the focus in the center of the image goes soft when the camera is about 1" from the subject. This makes it difficult to photograph snipets of text for example. Sliding the magnifier in front of the phonecam aperture puts everything back into focus. The magnifier is a triplet lens design with a 20.5mm diameter, which provides an ample enough field of view that positioning the phonecam in relationship to the lens isn't too critical, and there's no vignetting. The magnifier is a pretty common item that can be found at many hobby or science stores. I paid the $30 tourist ripoff price for this one, but I'm sure you will find it cheaper. Now to go exploring for more close-up photo ops!

- mike lee - washington, dc