Fisheye Lenses

Professional filmers in the skateboarding industry use a specific camera setup to capture the best angles for different tricks in different locations. If you watch a skateboarding video you will notice that there are several different types of shots. Some are wide shots of a single trick, some are close ups of a single trick, and some are close ups of several tricks in a "line" where the filmer is following the skateboarder.

To capture the most action in the shot while filming from close up requires a special type of lens called a fisheye. Shown above paired with a Sony VX1000, the fisheye gets it's name because it resembles a fish's eye in both it's look and it's function. The fisheye lens's convex shape allows it to capture video at an extremely wide angle

Fisheye Lenses create an effect called vignetting which makes the outsides of the image less clear and bright than the center. You can actually see the circular edges of the fisheye in the corners of the video. This gives you an idea of how wide the lens actually is.

The video below is a clip from a skateboarding video titled Fully Flared which was produced by the Lakai Footwear team . This clip shows the variety of camera angles and lenses used. See if you can spot when the filmer is using a fisheye and when they are using a normal lens.