Makayama Movie Mount for iPad 3

Cheap quality plastic construction and distorting lens make this buy a loss of $100 plus shipping. I DID NOT expect to become a Hollywood movie director and make an award winning movie from the onset----I'm not naive. But, I did expect to have something as a USABLE device for the iPad----home movies, silly----but entertaining video projects, and perhaps even viable video clips for movie shorts edited in Final Cut and/or Sony Vegas. I don't think my expectations were beyond reasonable.The plastic housing for the iPad is not terribly bad, but it is not very good either. It feels as if it would break easily if dropped. Having said that, I have to state the obvious that it would do little to protect an iPad if dropped. The threads are not correct for standard tripods either. Again, I believe the plastic would break if screwed onto a standard tripod. The sliding lens holder that comes with this is flimsy. Mine was damaged upon delivery. There are (2) tabs on the lens holder that are supposed to secure the lens in the housing. One of the tabs was broken on mine.The lens----this is the real onion here. The images through the lens are distorted very similar to a "fish eye" specialty lens for SLR cameras. While this is a standard effect for photography, I doubt anyone would want this for general video capture from their iPad, and certainly not for motion picture students, or amateur movie makers (such as myself). I don't know if all the lenses are this way, but mine is, and therefore impractical for general, everyday use shooting home video.Folks----I'm not an elitist amateur movie maker. I am not an authority on film production in any way, shape, or form. Simply put, I'm a hobbyist that has been able to produce fairly professional shorts good enough for local broadcast, and even a couple of projects worthy for the annual Cannes Film Festival in animation. And, I never thought the Makayama Movie Mount would ever make an iPad a stand-alone device for true video/film editing.But, I did have hope it would be something useful for the iPad as an accessory for video. Sadly, it does not. Save your money and do not blow it on this device.The Makayama Movie Mount is an overpriced, disappointing purchase that is of the same quality as something found in a gum ball machine, and a quarter spent on it is still too much.

Made it through one kid's sports career without videotaping for colleges, but have finally succumbed to using my iPad 3 or new iPad or whatever it's known as. Looked on Amazon and found two. Ordered this one and one from another manufacturer. The makayama fits perfectly and gets the job done, even on an old tripod.Other one I got (much less $$) was junky.My only issue was there seemed to be a lens cap that fit nothing in the box. When I reached out to the seller, he got right back to me and directed me to a YouTube video that explained getting the macro lens out of the gray slider. The lens cap fit that perfectly. I recommend, but wish it included 1) an extra iPad battery; 2) a telephoto lens; 3) an included cover; and 4) had a remote shutter function (built in). Then it would be darn close to perfect.

This device allows me to mount my iPad on a tripod, and that's great! However, the lens that cleverly slides into position or away from the standard camera lens comes with a black plastic protective lens cover that doesn't fit. The threads don't match. Also the documentation, less than half a page, does not include a customer service number, so I have not yet figured out how to contact the company and get the issue resolved. I also failed to find a customer service number on their website. I also worry when I am snapping my iPad out of its regular case and into the mount. I am glad both of these devices hold the iPad firmly, but I fear that when I am prying the iPad loose, it may go flying across the room.

One of those classic examples of what you see/read is what you get.PROS: Durable; iPad fits securely; the mount integrates well with the LED lights and microphones (both require the appropriate adapters) and both fit well in either slot on the mount. The wide angle lens is great as well. Fits perfectly on a standard tripod.CONS: Two things to note about using an external microphone. 1) You will likely require an adapter between any 3rd party microphone and your iPad's audio/headphone jack - you can get one through Makayama's website; and 2) The cable from the microphone will have to pass across the length of the iPad & mount to plug into the iPad jack, it would be nice if there was some kind of cable channel along the bottom of the mount to run the cable as the cable can snag as it loosely runs between the microphone and the iPad.Otherwise, no complaints. Worth every cent I paid.

Not worth $70.00!! Maybe $10, or two for $10. The lense might be worth it, but htat's not why we buy the MOUNT!! However, I can see why people pay the price, where can you get anything like this?? My complaint is the HOT SHOE adapters! THese ARE NOT Hot Shoe recepticles. THey are merely blank recepticles to hold an items. A Hot Shoe Mount has an electrical connection that allows you to conect and use Lights, Mics, etc.....without the use of external wiring. TO me this is nothing more than FALSE Advertising!! The other concern is that the lense recepticle has plastic treads. THe PP Plastic will not last very long, especially if you cross thread them (and this is too easily done). Over all, if you need something like this, as I did, make your own and save your $70.00!!

Obviously - since that's what it's made for. Only reason it's not a 5-star is that it feels a little flimsy, and the in trying to change out lenses, I had a lot of difficulty getting a 2x zoom to screw on - in fact, I never did. It felt like I was going to cross thread, and couldn't seat it properly. But the lens is one that, according to Amazon, is bought frequently with this product. With plastic threads, if they are cross threaded, they'll be ruined. So that could be better.

There's not alot of high tech anything happening here. It does what's it's advertised as: it holds your iPad and let's you hook a mic, light and tripod to it. It has a wide angle lens with it that works well for what it is.If you want to shoot movies with your iPad, this thing is pretty useful. Build is solid. Design is simple and elegant.