The Moment is NOT now
Moment Phone Lenses, Overrated and Underwhelming (Mostly)
I bought two Moment phone lenses for one very specific reason. I needed to shoot a short film on a phone, and I did not want it to look like it was shot on a phone.
Phones are great. They do a lot. I just do not love how much they process the image for you. You get what you get, and that is that.
So I bought into the Moment system. Two lenses. One I am keeping. One I am very much not.
Some Quick Context
Moment has been making phone lenses for a long time. They have the older M Series and the newer T Series, which is designed for newer phones and is noticeably bigger.
In the mobile anamorphic world, there are only a few companies doing this at all. Moment is one of the more popular ones, which is how I ended up here.
The idea was simple. Change the aspect ratio, add some character, and avoid the clean, overly processed phone look as much as possible.
The 1.33x Anamorphic Blue Flare Lens
This is the lens I actually wanted, and for the most part, it delivers.
Anamorphic lenses get described as cinematic, which is a word I dislike because it does not really mean anything. What they do mean, in practical terms, is a wider image and a different feel. That is what I was after.
Out of the box, you get the lens, a small pouch, a tiny metal tool, and some screws that still feel a bit mysterious. The real issue starts with mounting.
Moment uses a proprietary mount, so you need one of their cases or an adapter. I went with the case, and it feels more fragile than it should. The removable mount insert does not inspire confidence, and mine already shows chipped plastic. It also picks up fingerprints immediately, which is not ideal.
Once the lens is on, you still need to align it. This involves loosening and tightening a tiny screw using a tiny tool through a tiny hole. It works, but it is fiddly and slow, and it is not something I would enjoy doing in the middle of a shoot.
Once it is finally lined up though, the lens does what it is supposed to do.
The footage no longer feels like straight iPhone video. The blue flares are there. The wider aspect ratio is there. The image feels less processed. That alone makes this lens useful for me, and that is why I am keeping it.
That said, Moment really needs to make this whole process more functional.
The 58mm Telephoto Lens
This is where things fall apart.
The 58mm T Series telephoto lens is big, heavy, and expensive. It costs around 150 USD, and that does not include the case. Compared to the M Series version, this thing is huge.
To be fair, it feels solid, and mounting it is much easier than the anamorphic lens, which only highlights how annoying the anamorphic setup is.
The problem is the image.
Compared to the phone’s built-in 2x lens, there is no real advantage. You get some compression and some background blur, but the bokeh is not especially nice. It has a ring-like look that I am not a fan of.
Worse, the image quality drops off fast outside the center. The corners are soft, and there is some odd haloing happening that should not be there. This is not just my experience either. Plenty of other people have noticed the same softness.
If you are buying this lens to avoid phone image processing, you will be disappointed. Modern phones already do this better.
If you own a recent phone, especially something like an iPhone 16 Pro or newer, this lens is not worth the money.
Final Thoughts
The anamorphic lens does what I hoped it would do. It changes the image enough that phone footage no longer looks like phone footage. It is overpriced, annoying to use, and still something I will keep.
The 58mm telephoto lens is none of those things in a good way. I am sending it back, and I do not send gear back unless I really mean it.
If you are thinking about buying Moment lenses because you think you need them to make better content, you probably do not.
If you want a very specific look and are willing to deal with a clunky system, the anamorphic lens can make sense.
The telephoto lens can stay on the shelf.
