Macro photography with iPhone SE and Nikon Pro-Loupe


3,024 x 3,024 pixel version

I wanted to take photos of flowers but I didn’t want to upgrade my iPhone SE (2nd generation) just yet for an iPhone 13 Pro, which looks like it could take impressive macro shots from as close as 2 centimeters away.

After considering cheap clip-on macro lenses, it occured to me to try an old loupe (a Nikon 4x Pro-Loupe) that I have had since I was shooting slide film, which really was a long time ago.

The results were better than I expected.

Taking photos with this set-up is simple: set the iPhone’s camera to half-way zoom, place the loupe just in front of the camera lens, check the focus and press the shutter. Hand-holding the iPhone and loupe sounds more cumbersome than it actually is.

Here are some photos that I took using this smartphone-loupe combination.


3,024 x 3,024 pixel version


3,024 x 3,024 pixel version


3,024 x 3,024 pixel version