Add a leather grip, tripod mount, red shutter button to your iPhone

Making the iPhone more like a camera

With one simple device, an iPhone can look, feel, and function just like a traditional camera, a problem that many smartphone users lament about switching from a digital camera to their phones as a camera. Beep Industries designs products that simplify life, including the POPA which the company promotes as the “big red button for your iPhone.”

The company says they are huge iPhone fans, and like many others have ditched their digital cameras for their smartphones but felt the experience to be lacking. “It always felt to us like something’s missing from the camera phone photo taking experience – snapping away isn’t as easy and enjoyable as it should be. As designers, it seemed to us that there was a simple solution to this problem – a button. Not just any button – a big, beautiful, purpose built button. We love buttons – we think they’re playful and inviting – they scream out “C’mon press me”. POPA brings that button back!”

The POPA is compatible with the iPhone 4 and iPhone FS and does so much more than adds the big red button – we are more excited about the idea of having the real leather grip that reminds us so much of point-and-shoot cameras, bringing back a rush of memories like how dark room chemicals smell.

Although POPA won’t have you developing film by hand, it does make recreational shooting much simpler, especially for the tripod mount, a tool most photographers still have sitting around, and hobbyists might as well. The POPA gadget also comes with a leather wrist strap that simply screws into the tripod mount and also comes with a carry pouch.

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The bottom line is that POPA fills in the gap between traditional camera and digital smartphone camera for under $100, an accessory that is so much mor than a novelty. Now, if only the company creates a POPA for Androids, the other half of our team would be set!