Cell phone cameras are surprisingly good these days. You can also get small macro lenses to facilitate close-up work, and even microscope lenses. However, I'm interested in long-distance views from high points, and there I've been disappointed in what's available. Seemingly there's an endless selection of fixed 12X telephoto attachments with bulky clips, and a few other fixed magnifications, but no actual zoom lenses.

Am I missing something, or is this just too hard a problem to solve?