Camera-equipped smartphones aren’t quite the perfect replacement for a digital camera just yet. They lack manual controls, use tiny sensors, and their simple lenses lack the ability to zoom. (And, no, digital zoom doesn’t count.) But if you already have a powerful set of binoculars, this simple adaptor will turn them into a powerful telephoto lens for your phone, as long as you don’t mind some unwieldy bulk.
The flexible adaptor works with various full-sized binoculars — so, opera lovers, you’re out of luck. And while designed for the iPhone 5, an included adaptor lets it play nice with the iPhone 4 and 4S. At just $18, it’s a cheap way to give your phone some impressive zoom capabilities, but only if you don’t factor in the hundreds of dollars spent on a nice set of binoculars, and the strange looks you’ll get whenever you pull this out. [ThinkGeek]