The Best iPhone Lenses for Filming Skateboarding: Moment T-Series Review

Skateboarding Filmmaking Essentials

The fisheye lens is synonymous with skateboarding. Since the 1990s, it has been a staple for filming skate videos. Before iPhones existed, the go-to camera setup for skate filming was the Sony VX1000 paired with the Century Optics MK1 lens (aka the "Death Lens"). I started skating in 1996, and after watching hundreds of hours of skate videos shot with fisheye lenses, I was inspired to start filming my friends and me skating through the streets we grew up on.

In 2010, I bought my first smartphone fisheye lens, a clip-on for my iPhone 4. Unfortunately, early iPhone fisheye lenses were fragile, often breaking easily and rattling while filming. This made the footage shaky, and the image quality was never sharp — it always looked slightly out of focus.

Why I Switched to the Moment T-Series Fisheye

In 2019, Apple introduced the ultra-wide 0.5x lens on the iPhone 11, a game-changer for amateur videographers and skateboarders. I used it for years, but one issue always bugged me — edge distortion. The iPhone’s built-in wide-angle lens often stretches and warps a skater’s hands, arms, and legs, making them look strangely long, disproportionate, and curved.

That all changed in 2023 when I discovered the Moment T-Series Fisheye lens. What I love most about it is how it minimizes distortion while producing crisp, high-quality footage. It makes my videos look much closer to what you’d get from a professional setup—at a fraction of the cost. This was the main reason I made the switch.

Vans’ Legendary Pool Party

Recently, I was hired to cover The Vans Pool Party, one of Vans' most iconic skateboarding events, for their Instagram (@vansskate) and TikTok (@vans).

On the day of the event, I packed both my T-Series Fisheye and T-Series 58mm Telephoto lens because skate contests are fast-paced and unpredictable. Pro skaters constantly change tricks last minute and try them in different areas of the course, so capturing dynamic angles is key to making an engaging skate edit for social media.

Why I Brought the T-Series Telephoto Lens

Having the T-Series Telephoto lens allowed me to zoom in from a distance without losing as much quality as I would using my iPhone 15 Pro Max's built-in zoom. It also lets me zoom in even closer than the phone’s native zoom, which was a huge advantage.

For example, during the contest, I’d be filming from a balcony above the skate bowl using the Telephoto lens, capturing a skater from a distance. But as soon as they moved to a new trick in a different area of the bowl—one that looked better with a wide-angle lens—I had to quickly swap lenses and reposition myself. Running back and forth between the bleachers and the course while switching lenses on the fly was crucial—once a skater lands a trick, they move on immediately.

The Moment App: A Game-Changer

The Moment Pro Camera App was also incredibly helpful. It has features like manual and auto-focus controls and footage stabilization, which helped me keep my shots smooth and professional-looking.