Vivo X200 Ultra camera grip: How to buy the exclusive 200 mm Zeiss teleconverter and photography kit

It’s rare for a Chinese smartphone to garner so much interest from ambitious photographers and videographers who prefer to limit themselves to a phone. The Vivo X200 Ultra does a few things differently from all its competitors. Besides the dedicated 35 mm Zeiss lens, the 14 mm ultrawide camera (which uses the same sensor) and the remarkably light-sensitive 85 mm 200 MP telephoto camera definitely serve as a compelling selling point for many consumers. The available add-on options also significantly enhance the versatility of this package.

We have previously covered ways to import the Vivo X200 Ultra. Since then, photography add-ons for the phone have begun appearing at select import retailers. For instance, Geekwills offers customers the option to purchase the photography kit with or without the optional teleconverter when ordering an imported Vivo X200 Ultra. The photography kit costs $199, whilst adding the attachable 85-to-200 mm teleconverter raises the total price to $399. For those who’ve already bought the Vivo X200 Ultra, these two add-ons can also be purchased separately from shops like TradingShenzhen or Giztop.

The photography kit alone costs around $202 from our trusted import partner TradingShenzhen, compared to $199 from Giztop. Meanwhile, the kit plus the Zeiss teleconverter will set you back about $406 on TradingShenzhen and $399 on Giztop. It's worth noting that these accessories are currently out of stock at TradingShenzhen. Although Giztop claims to have them in stock, the store expects the products to start shipping only in mid-May. On its Chinese online store, Vivo offers a complete bundle containing the 1 TB version of the X200 Ultra along with all the accessories. However, none of our usual retailers have offered this bundle so far.

Notably, retailers seem to demand pretty high markups for the photography kit, which is partially manufactured by PGYTech. For the base kit, even the cheapest option represents an approximately 48% to 110% increase over its original price in China, depending on whether you're referencing Vivo’s sale or list price. With the teleconverter included, the markup is around 75% (sale price) or a downright modest 14% (list price). For context, a 20% to 30% premium is usually charged for imported smartphones, driven in part by taxes and duties.