Having fun with the Hasselblad mod for Moto Z Play. Grab a free screen saver or buy a print of this image.

I bought the Hasselblad camera mod for my Moto Z Play. Why not give it a test drive? If I don’t like it, I can always return it.

The Basics

Despite being 12 MP, it’s a nice sharp image. It’s clearly a better result than the native camera for the Moto Z Play. Why is this? For the money and phone cameras, the lens is what you’d expect from Hasselblad.

This mod fits snugly to the back of the phone. Once turned on it takes on the look and feel of a compact camera. In my big hands, it still feels comfortable.

You can use digital or optical zoom. The phone screen becomes a live view, just like any digital camera. It has auto-focus. Push the shutter button half-way and set the focus, just like DSLR’s.

If you’re the sharing kind, this is quickly done straight from the live view/phone screen.

Professional Mode

In addition to automatic settings and Hasselblad shooting modes, you can switch to Professional. In this mode you have the option to manually set the focus, shutter speed, timer, aperture, ISO, and EV+/- by touching and swiping the screen. It’s simple.

You can shoot in jpeg or raw. It also comes with a flash akin to a point-and-shoot camera. High ISO does get a bit grainy, but it’s not a huge bother, and you might like that style. It generally does well in low-light environments.

There is a micro-SD memory card that you can save photos to, so you can easily upload to your preferred editing software or computer. Back-up to the cloud is a cinch, too.

Basically, the Moto Z Play becomes a modern digital camera when you attach the Hasselblad mod to it.

Results

As you can see above, it produces a good image for a phone. Will it take the place of my DSLR or film cameras? No. But using a phone camera is a different mindset and approach, and relative to that, it’s a solid camera.

At the moment, my only criticism is that I wish it could be mounted on a traditional tripod. I’d like to see what it can do with slow-shutter landscapes. Also, light sync would be an interesting thing to get into.

Is it worth the money? It’s Hasselblad. Nothing of theirs is low-cost. But this one doesn’t require that you be Bill Gates and it’s reasonably priced for us mortals.

If you use a different mobile phone, then I don’t see a reason to switch just for this camera mod. But if you’re someone who uses this phone and does a fair amount of photography, then you should go ahead and buy this camera.