You can get DSLR-quality photos on your iPhone with a simple gadget

DxO One is a standalone 20-megapixel camera that marries with your iPhone for a new kind of smartphone photography experience. What you might think of as the camera handle is actually the camera and the lighting plug-connected iPhone is the viewfinder.

It’s DxO’s way of sidestepping the iPhone’s photo limitations, while still tapping into what’s often best about iPhone photography.

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Apple iPhone photography is already a pretty satisfying experience. Not only does the iPhone take great 8MP photos and 1080p video, but it’s also the easy-to-use camera that’s always in your pocket.

Even so, camera pros and prosumers are invariably frustrated by the iPhone's limitations. The megapixel count is too low and the controls — aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings — are virtually non-existent. Just try capturing a decent picture of the moon at night with your iPhone and you’ll see what I mean.

With the $599 DxO One, which goes on pre-order today, DxO takes image capture out of the iPhone's responsibilities and places it firmly in control of this tiny camera with DSLR-level chops.

DxO is a well-known name in digital photography circles. The company provides image and video quality analysis for manufacturers and media outlets. It also makes a line of pro-level image-processing tools, and the company says its imaging tech is inside 300 million smartphones. This is the first time, though, the company has built consumer imaging hardware.