Top 10 Genius Photography Accessories for Your Smartphone - Gear UP

Your smartphone can take pretty good photos, but they can look so much better with a few smart accessories.

Hey everyone, Welcome to Gear Up, the WatchMojo series that looks at the latest and greatest in tech. I’m Marc Saltzman, and in this video we’re going to look at 10 great smartphone accessories for taking photos -- and many can be used for video, too.

Here we go.

You’ve probably seen these lenses you can clamp over top of your iPhone or Android camera lens, to help you capture more around you. Olloclip’s 4-in-1, as the name suggests, includes a Fisheye lens, Wide-Angle lens, 10x macro lens, for extreme close-up shots, and a 15x Macro lens, too. Switch between these glass lenses in seconds, and they work with all your favorite photo and video apps. Make sure you buy the one that fits your specific phone model.

Now THIS is cool. The FLIR One is clever thermal imaging camera accessory, which snaps underneath an iPhone or Android – you choose the model that fits your phone – and it lets you see the heat emanating out of a person, pet, or inanimate object. For example, spot people in an underground garage because of their heat signature, or see where energy is escaping in your household. It can also tell you the temperature of what you’re pointing it at.

When is a tripod more than a tripod? When it has bendable legs and many rotatable joints, allowing you to secure your smartphone to virtually any object — be it a tree, rock, fence, doorknob or lamppost. That’s exactly what you can do with the Gorillapod products from Joby. They actually have more than 10 different styles to choose from. But all are built with sturdy, injection-molded plastic for secure joints, while the rubberized ring and foot grips provide an extra hold to steady your shot.

OK, so selfie sticks are so 2015. But here’s a tip: Go to your local dollar store and pick up a selfie stick for a mere buck. Not only are they ideal for taking your own picture but they also help you elevate your scenic pics since you can reach a couple of feet higher AND it steadies your shot, too, to reduce shakiness in your photos and videos. They typically collapse down to a few inches to throw in a backpack. And while you’re at the dollar store, pick up a Bluetooth shutter for your smartphone when it’s on the selfie stick so you don’t have to use the timer.

Speaking of selfies, you probably know the lighting isn’t the best since the flash is on the BACK of your phone, which means your selfies might not be the most flattering. But the LuMee smartphone case from Logiix changes all that because it lights up your face for selfies. Say what? Yep, this fitted smartphone case has front-facing lighting for selfies, Skype, Facetime, or for checking your make-up. It has bright, adjustable LED lights, powered by a rechargeable battery built into the case. Simply press the small button on the back to illuminate your face. There’s a few different models to choose from.

Slightly larger than a regular USB thumbstick, this 32-gigabyte flash drive emits a Wi-Fi Direct signal, allowing you to wirelessly access content from it, such as movies, TV shows, photos, music, and documents. In fact, up to three devices can stream content from the SanDisk Connect at the same time – such as 3 people watching a different video on their device simultaneously? But why is this gadget in a smartphone photography accessories round-up? Because you can also wirelessly back up photos and videos you shot on a smartphone to the drive, and then delete them off the phone to make more room.

As the name suggests, this an external light for all the photos and videos you shoot on your smartphone. In fact, there’s 12 bright LED lights, built into the hand grip which holds your phone in place, and so your phone sits just above the lights. The built-in batteries supply powerful light for various situations, such as dark environments outside at inside at a night club, plus there’s four power modes to adjust the brightness to your liking. The Lightwish is small enough to bring with you everywhere.

Unless your phone is waterproof and chances are it isn’t, you don’t want to bring it anywhere near a pool, lake, ocean, or even a bathtub. Unless, of course, you have a fitted waterproof case for it. Available for iPhones, the Optrizx XD5 is a sports action video camera case with a waterproof, impact resistant uni-body housing; 175-degree wide angle optical-grade glass lens that goes on top of your existing iPhone camera lens; and includes a camera mount connector, too, to place on a tripod, if you like, or mount to handlebars, waterskies, or whatever.

The company best-known for its line of back-up batteries for smartphones now adds some storage to their cases, too. Using the iPhone’s Lightning connector, this snap-on case not only charges up your phone when you need a boost -- thanks to its 1,700-mililiamp battery -- but it also adds 16- or 32-gigabytes of storage to your device. Therefore, you can store and view a bunch of photos and videos you shot on the secondary flash drive, so it won’t take up any of your precious, limited space. Mophie’s free Space app is required to handle the task.

And finally, a tabletop tripod is a great idea for all kinds of photography, as well as a convenient way to Facetime or Skype without having to lean your phone up against something. The Manfrotto Pixi Smart Mini Tripod was designed to support smartphones of all sizes thanks to its retractable housing, and has durable, adjustable legs to adjust so you always get the best angle. You can also fold up the legs, grip the base and use this Manfrotto mini tripod while walking around to stabilize your shot.

Hey, thanks for watching Gear Up; I'm Marc Saltzman. Let us know in the comments section which tech products you want us to review next and if you're interested in any of these products, you can find links in the description below. For more tech-tastic lists, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.