Your iPhone 17 Pro could become the best camera in your bag – as long as you're okay with the bulk

The Apple iPhone 17 Pro already introduced some notable upgrades to its camera setup when it launched in September last year. The resolution of the telephoto lens jumped up to 48-megapixels, while 8x optical zoom capabilities were also added, up from the 5x that we saw on the iPhone 16 Pro.

But if you want additional photography features for your iPhone 17 Pro / Pro Max, or your iPhone 16 Pro for that matter, there's a Kickstarter project that will introduce retro cam vibes to your iPhone. And as well as the neat design, you get film filter presets, support for external storage, and modular telephoto optics, too.

What is the RetroVa Vintage Image Kit and what does it offer your iPhone?

The RetroVa Vintage Image Kit was spotted by 9to5Mac on Kickstarter and has been created from the same company that makes official photo extenders for Vivo and Oppo’s flagship phones.

Pgytech’s iPhone focused kit has a few different pledge tiers on Kickstarter and it depends which one you choose as to what you get in the box.

If you pick the more expensive option (at $184) you get a telephoto extender that features a 13-element lens system that is divided into three optical groups and optimised for the iPhone’s f/2.8 aperture.

According to the Kickstarter page: "The 2.35x Master Telephoto Extender unlocks a focal range previously impossible on a smartphone. Reach up to 235mm (4x) optical on iPhone 17 Pro, or push to a staggering 2350mm equivalent.”

The lower tiers (at $72) include a Phone Grip and Phone Case, with the grip making your iPhone look and feel like a vintage camera, while including some useful buttons. There is a shutter button, multi-function button, zoom lever and control dial.

There’s also a microSD card slot, though there are some limitations as to the recording formats that are supported.

It’s also worth noting that the RetroVa Vintage Image Kit only works with the Pgytech camera app rather than Apple’s native camera app.

If you want to make your iPhone 17 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro look more vintage while adding some neat tricks, this is a Kickstarter campaign you might fancy getting behind.