The DiffCase for the iPhone mounts on a photo tripod.
If you pull your iPhone out to use apps like Instagram, CameraBag and GorillaCam more often than you use it to make phone calls, then you are who the designers at Diff had in mind at the drafting table.
The DiffCase is a hard plastic cover built to accommodate photographers and videographers, with flip-up shades to protect a phone’s screen from the sun and two tripod mounts, so the phone can be oriented horizontally or vertically.
The case has a beefy bumper that surrounds the phone and doors in the front and back that can open horizontally or vertically. The back door acts as a stand, so the phone can be set on a table for viewing, while the front door blocks the sun while shooting (and offers some privacy when you’re not).
While the bumper is heavy duty, the doors have rather small hinge pins that I worry might snap off over time. DiffCase does offer a pair of replacement doors for $3. The entire case is $35 through Diff online and the latest model comes with an extra door.
There are accessories for the case as well, like a $4 key ring that screws into the tripod mount to secure your phone and a $2 carabiner clip that secures through a hole in the case, leaving both tripod mounts clear. There is also a $6 mini-tripod, a less-expensive alternative to the popular Joby flexible tripods.
Diff said it will soon produce a add-on case back that will accommodate screw-on accessory lenses, a limited-edition case in aluminum and a scaled-down camera dolly as well as a jib, suitable for a Lilliputian studio.
Best of all, when you are done filming your opus, you can use your camera to call your agent.