The new cinematic smart case promises to transform the iPhone 6 into a fully functional camera—complete with interchangeable lenses and a pistol grip, vaguely reminiscent of the Super 8 cameras once used to shoot home movies.
Lumenati, a Denver-based production company that mostly makes ads, has thus far had a highly successful Kickstarter campaign that has already amassed crowdfunding pledges of $128,112, overshooting their $75,000 goal with 25 days to go.
“Smartphone cameras are getting better and better, but the ergonomics are all wrong,” Scott McDonald of Lumenati tells Quartz. “We were inspired by cameras from the 60’s, we love that form factor, it’s just so appealing, so we thought how can we make this ergonomically correct camera?”
McDonald said the camera’s biggest selling point is the ability to edit and publish videos from the iPhone itself—unlike a GoPro camera, which requires users to upload content and then use separate editing software.
The Lumenati team initially thought that their market would be in personal use, but McDonald tells Quartz that a surprising number of news cameramen and other professionals have expressed an interest in the case.
The Kickstarter page says that wanna-be directors simply “pop their device into the Lumenati CS1 just as grandpa would load an 8mm film cartridge.”
McDonald tells Quartz that his team has fitted the case to the iPhone 6 for now, but plan to design the case to also fit the iPhone 6 Plus and Android phones. The iPhone 6 case is available for purchase online today and McDonald says they plan to deliver by Jan. 2016—after they’ve finished the “appropriate testing” to ensure a quality product.