Adding a fisheye lens attachment to an iPhone creates an ultra-wide photo angle with a 100-180° field of view. The image angles are distorted to create a unique curvilinear effect that creates a unique hemispherical or panoramic image. The fisheye effect works particularly well with certain photo subjects, and it’s important to understand how to use it to get the most out of your iPhone fisheye lens
A portable fisheye lens can be easily attached to an iPhone to turn its regular camera into a wide-angle lens capable of capturing a full 180° view. You can use your iPhone fisheye lens to photograph almost anything with a fun and unique distortion effect to create spherical or panoramic photos.
If you’re interested in learning about how to properly use a fisheye lens on your iPhone, there are plenty of resources regarding how to photograph with them and what type of lens to buy. Below is the basic information you will need to learn how to photograph with your fisheye lens and how to find the perfect one for your iPhone.
How do I Take Photos with a Fisheye Lens?
Fisheye lenses for iPhones attach directly to your iPhone to widen the field of view that the camera is able to take in. You can use your iPhone camera exactly the way you normally would take photos, but the fisheye lens will allow you to fit a lot more subject matter into your frame. This type of photography is ideal for a variety of different subjects, including:
- Landscape Photography
- Urban/ Cityscape Photography
- Portrait Photography
- Sport or Action photography
- Humor photography
Listed below are some of the best techniques for using your fisheye lens to get fantastic photos in each of these categories.
Create Gorgeous Landscape Photography
The extremely wide angle of the fisheye lens works exceptionally well for capturing vast landscapes and other natural wonders. Described below are a few tips and tricks to make your next fisheye landscape stand out.
- Give Your Horizon Some Curves
- Go the Distance with a Panoramic Photo
- Look Directly to the Sky
Give Your Horizon Some Curves
With a fisheye lens, the closer an object is to the edge of the frame, the more distorted and curved it will become. Typical landscape photography features a straight horizon perfectly centered in the photo. Bring a new perspective to a traditional photo by pushing the horizon line towards the edge of the picture for a sensational round-earth shot.
Go the Distance with a Panoramic Photo
Because of how wide the angle of the fisheye lens is, you can capture much more of a nature scene than you can with a traditional camera. For this photo opportunity, use a wide-frame fisheye lens place your horizon line in the center of the photo for a complete 180 panorama lined up perfectly for your viewing pleasure.
Look Directly to the Sky
We take photos of the sky all the time, but it’s tough to appreciate the magnitude of it when it’s crammed into a square camera lens. Capture the movement of a cloudy sky or the vastness of the nighttime stars with an exquisite ultrawide-angled shot. Or use a circular fisheye lens to capture a circle of forest trees pushing up into the sky.
Capture the Beauty of the Concrete Jungle
Cityscape and urban photographs have their own unique beauty, but it can be very difficult to fit a large building or city skyline in its entirety with a regular iPhone camera. Adding your fisheye lens can help you capture the massiveness of a city scene without hassle. Try these tips to make your next cityscape photo even more epic.
- Get a Bird’s Eye View
- Get Bending with Buildings
- Create a Kaleidoscope Effect with an Artistic Ceiling Shot
Get a Bird’s Eye View
Instead of taking your photo from the street level, capture your urban surroundings from a higher vantage point. Try getting a photo from the top of a building or apartment to fit an entire cityscape into one fantastic panorama.
Get Bendy with Buildings
Use the fisheye’s distortion abilities to your advantage by getting funky footage of stoic buildings defying nature. Find a scene where a tall building is in the outer edge of the frame and watch as the distortion bends it around the image for a totally new perspective.
Create a Kaleidoscope Effect with an Artistic Ceiling Shot
Many historical buildings in big cities have massive ceilings featuring impressive art and architecture. It’s impossible to capture the entire image with a regular iPhone camera, but the fisheye lens will allow you to get a full unbroken image. Use a circular fisheye lens to create a fun Kaleidoscope effect.
Portrait Photography
Believe it or not, the fisheye lens is a great tool to use to create unique portrait photography. While most portraits feature a centered subject with an unmoving background, the fisheye lens will distort the background to integrate it more fully into the portrait and add some life to the photo. Try these tactics below for a new take on a personal portrait.
- Let the Background Have a Moment
- Keep Your Selfie Game Strong
Let the Background Have a Moment
Sometimes, a portrait can be so singly focused on the subject that the background loses all meaning or ability to enhance the photo. Your fisheye lens can bring the background of a portrait to life and make your subject stand out even more. Using a circular lens, place your subject in the exact center of the frame and let the background swirl around them in a fun, otherworldly scene.
Keep Your Selfie Game Strong
One of the best features of the iPhone is the ability to turn the camera around on yourself – hence the term “selfie.” Your fisheye lens will help you take your selfie game to a whole new level with the ability to capture your surroundings in a way no regular iPhone camera can.
Get in on the Action with Sport Photography
Fisheye lenses are able to home in on a single subject while still capturing a vast background, making it a perfect tool for sport and action photography. Try these tricks for capturing unbelievable action shots.
- Shoot from the Ground
- Get a Stadium View
Shoot from the Ground
Capture the full magnitude of a skateboarder getting some air or a basketball player going up for the dunk by taking your fisheye photo at an extreme upward angle from close to the ground. Make sure your subject is directly at the center of the frame, and you’ll probably get some fantastic in-action facial expressions as well.
Get a Stadium View
There’s no thrill like going to your first major sporting event in a big stadium, even if you find yourself in the nosebleeds. Use your faraway vantage point to your advantage by getting a full panorama of the stadium in your fisheye lens. You’ll have a keepsake that even the front row spectators will be jealous of.
Humor Photography
Because of the distortion within the fisheye lens, a photo can come out looking like it just had a run-in with a funhouse mirror. Try these funny photo ideas to keep everyone laughing.
- Get Funny with Facial Features
- Use Your Animal Instincts
Get Funny with Facial Features
Focus on or exaggerate someone’s facial features by centering them directly in the middle of the fisheye lens and laugh for hours as the distortion effect bends the rest of their face into an unrecognizable shape. Have someone wear a funny mask or hat to really bring it home.
Use Your Animal Instincts
Get new and hilarious perspectives of your favorite furry friends by bringing your fisheye lens to an animal’s face level. They’re already so cute on their own that you’re pretty much guaranteed a money shot.
While these are all excellent ways to get the most out of your iPhone fisheye lens, there is no limit to what you can photograph and experiment with. No matter what your photographing with your fisheye lens, be creative and have fun with it. No matter what you photograph, you’ll come out with a fun and unique photo you could never capture with your regular iPhone lens.
How do I Choose the Right Fisheye Lens?
When purchasing a fisheye lens, there are a few things you need to take into consideration. Every lens offers unique features and abilities that may or may not be compatible with the iPhone that you have. Before you commit to a lens, make sure you’re aware of the following:
- Cost
- Compatibility with iPhone
- Accessibility and Storage
- Style of Lens
- Focal length
- Compatibility with Camera Apps
Cost
While generally not as expensive as a camera, fisheye lenses can get pricey, especially if they come with multiple components. Some lenses are only available as part of a larger kit with multiple lenses and components, which adds to the cost. Other lenses will only work in combination with a specific case or attachment that has to be bought as well. Make sure you include the cost of any extra accessories when determining your budget.
Compatibility with Your iPhone
Just like many other iPhone accessories, some fisheye lenses are only compatible with specific versions of the iPhone. Make sure the lens you want is compatible with your phone or comes with a case that fixes compatibility issues.
Accessibility and Storage
One of the downsides of the Fisheye lens is that it’s not part of the iPhone, so it has to be removed and stored when it’s not in use. It’s important to know how accessible your lens is and how easy it is to take on or off. Lenses generally attach to the iPhone in two different ways:
- Clip-On Attachment
- Case Attachment
Clip-On Attachment
Clip-on lens attachments generally clip onto the front or side of the iPhone. They are popular because they can quickly and easily be attached and removed without much hassle or adjustment. However, the lenses are relatively small, and it may be more difficult to adjust focus on the fly.
Case Attachment
Some fisheye lenses screw or clip into an iPhone case that must be on the phone for the lens to work. This allows for a larger lens that can offer a wider angle and the ability to easily adjust the focus, but it can be cumbersome.
Style of Lens
Fisheye lenses come in two different styles that work best with certain types of photographs. Depending on what type of photos you’re interested in capturing, you’ll want to make sure the lens you choose offers the style you want to work in.
- Full-Frame Lens
- Circular Lens
Circular Lens
A circular fisheye lens captures a full 180° view in all directions to create a circular image with a black frame. This creates a larger distortion as the image moves towards the outer edge of the circle, and the most prominent part of the image is directly in the center of the frame. This type of fisheye photo works best for artistic photography or close-up action photos.
Full-Frame Lens
A full frame fisheye lens only captures a 180° view along the photograph’s diagonal. The horizontal and vertical edges capture slightly less, creating a less intense distortion than is seen on the circular lens. Since full frame photos take up every inch of the camera frame, they are best for landscape and cityscape photography.
Focal Length
The focal length is the distance between the camera’s lens and the image center. The shorter the focal length of a lens, the wider the field of view. Most circular fisheye lenses have a focal length of 8-10mm, and full frame lenses are 15-16mm. However, some lenses can have focal lengths as low as 1mm.
Depending on what kind of photography you’re looking to take, you’ll want to make sure you know what focal length your lens is. Landscape and travel photographers who won’t always want a full 180° field of view will likely prefer a longer focal length, while action and artistic photographers will want to find lenses with shorter focal lengths.
Compatibility with Camera Apps
Part of the allure of iPhone photography is that photos taken on your phone can immediately be uploaded, edited, and posted to social media with pre-installed camera apps. It’s important to make sure your fisheye lens is compatible with iPhone camera apps or comes with its own app that allows you to easily edit and transfer photos.
Which Fisheye Lens Should I Buy?
There are dozens of different fisheye lens attachments on the market, and it can be easy to get overwhelmed by all of the factors that need to be taken into consideration. The table below shows some of the top fisheye lenses currently on the market with specifications laid out to help you make a more informed buying decision.
| Lens | Features | Compatibility | Best For |
| Olloclip 3-in-1 Essential Lens Kit | Circular lens180° field of viewVideo capabilityWorks with all camera apps | iPhone X, XS, XR, 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max | Action Photography, Artistic Photography |
| Sandmarc Fisheye Lens for iPhone | 10mm focal lengthCircular lensComes with clip mount and case mount | iPhone 7/7 Plus, 8/8Plus, X, XR, XS, 11/11 Pro/11 Pro Max | Landscape Photography, Urban Photography, Action Photography |
| Moment Fisheye 15mm Lens | Full Frame LensPro Camera app for editingVideo capability | Works with any iPhone as long as it is in a Moment iPhone case | Landscape Photography, Architecture, Portraits |
| Criacr Amir Phone Camera Lens | Circular lens180° field of viewBudget-Friendly | iPhone 11/11 Pro, X, 8/ 8 Plus, 7/7 Plus, 6S/6S Plus, 5S, SE | Action Photography, Humor Photography, |
| Shuttermoon iPhone Camera Lens Kit | Circular Lens 198° field of viewBudget-friendly | iPhone 6S, 7, 8, X/XLS | Action Photography, Artistic Photography |
Is an iPhone Fisheye Lens App a Comparable Alternative?
Of course, we can’t ignore the burning question, “isn’t there an app for that?” In fact, there are tons of fisheye camera apps, but they don’t work exactly the same as the attachable lenses. A Fisheye app cannot physically widen your iPhone camera lens. Instead, the app bends and distorts the images taken by your phone to create the effect of a Fisheye image.
Fisheye Lens apps are incredibly affordable and usually require a small one-time fee. However, they won’t create the professional-grade photos you’ll get with a clip-on lens. Nonetheless, they’re a great option for casual photographers and offer lots of fun filters to bring photos to life. Below is a list of some of the most popular fisheye lens apps to download onto your phone.
| App | Features |
| Fisheye Pro | 170 field of view, multiple live filtersPhoto and video |
| Fish Eye Camera – Selfie Photo Editor | 178 field of view40+ filters |
| Fisheye Lens – Lomo Camera | 10 types of lensesMultiple filters |
| iFish plenty of fisheye camera | Multiple lenses and filtersPhoto and video |
Which Fisheye Lens Option is Right for Me?
If you’re looking to create professional-grade fisheye photos that take time and precision to set up, it will be worth spending the extra money for the quality you’ll get with the attachable lenses. However, if you’re more of a casual photographer who likes to take photos on-the-go, you may find that the fisheye iPhone apps are perfectly suited to your needs.
Whether you choose to go with an attachable lens or try your hand at a filter, you’ll expand your visual horizons and learn valuable photography skills by working with a fisheye lens. Whatever your subject matter is, you’ll be amazed at the incredible and creative perspectives you’ll be able to create with your new iPhone fisheye lens.