The VX1000 paired with a Mk1 fisheye lens shaped an entire era of skating and its influence is still easy to spot in edits today. But that iconic look came at a cost. VX setups and later digital cameras are heavy. Filmers spent years carrying camera bodies, lenses, handles, batteries, chargers, and backups, often hauling 10+ kilos through the city on a filming trip. Anyone who’s done it knows it’s part of the process, but it’s never been fun.

Today, the most common filming tool fits into your pocket: your phone. It’s light, always with you, and technically impressive but on the other hand visually often too clean, too corrected, and too wide in the wrong way to naturally capture the feel of classic fisheye skate footage.

That gap is where Shineye steps in.

GettingIItIRight

Martin Ottosson, Daniel Hansson and Danijel Stankovic (Shinner Crew) from Malmö created Shineye after constant debates about why phone footage never hit the right vibe.

“It was one of Martins brilliant ideas, as he’s always on the chase on how to make things better” Danijel recalls. “We end up always talking and hating on the current formats of the iPhone or GoPro cams, that it looks very skewed and not correct how we like skateboarding to look”.

Those conversations eventually led to a key realization: Apple’s ultra-wide 0.5 lens wasn’t actually behaving like a real fisheye lens at all, it was software manipulation.

“Once we realized that 0.5 wasn’t the lens, but a software manipulation we decided to give it a try. I brought some 0.5 wide-angle shots into After Effects and applied a series of effects to them,” Martin explains. “I wanted to see if a fisheye effect on rectilinear footage was even feasible from a technical point of view. And it was.”

Even with that realization, there was an early moment where the project’s future wasn’t entirely clear.

“There was one moment where we got stuck on some of the technical aspects of the actual fisheye distortion,” Martin says. “But Daniel did an amazing job finding a solution to it. That felt like a true Eureka moment, and from there on it was full speed ahead, fine-tuning both the effect and the UX.”

From concept to App Store release, Shineye took roughly a year and a half to complete. Development began at the end of 2024, with the first public version launching in July 2025.

NostalgiaI×i2026

The VX1000/fisheye footage makes tricks feel closer, lines look faster, and exaggerates movement in a way that pulls you straight into it. The vignette, curvature, slight shake and edges all add up to footage that feels raw.

Shineye aims to mimic classic fisheye behavior digitally, using software-based lens simulations and image processing, with the effect applied to a full sensor readout (open gate) rather than the cropped output used by standard camera apps. One of the App’s biggest strengths is its simplicity: no login, no cloud, no sign-up. You open it, film, and export. No adapters, handles, or heavy gear needed.

“We worked with a lot of people to get the effect right,” Danijel explains, “especially students at Bryggeriet Gymnasium, but also Pros and filmers through beta tests. I think the first time I properly tested the final product was with Stefan Janoski in Paris.”

Because the workflow is digital from the start, Shineye makes editing and exporting straightforward. Clips drop directly into Instagram, TikTok, or full-length edits without extra steps, so all the VX energy, none of the gear hassle.

TestingIShineye

At first glance, Shineye’s digital fisheye curve comes surprisingly close to the familiar VX1000/fisheye look. The edges bend in a predictable, natural way, the center remains sharp, and objects are pulled toward the lens with the same intensity that makes fisheye footage so engaging.

Comparing Shineye’s clips to real VX footage reveals the main differences. The parts that feel right are the curve, the proximity, and it genuinely captures that “in your face” vibe. What feels new is the cleaner, brighter and more stable image that naturally comes from the iPhone camera. It’s a small reminder that you’re filming digitally, but in a way that actually complements the look.

“We really wanted to nail the feeling you get from a Death Lens on a VX or the Century Xtreme fisheye on an HPX,” Martin explains. “Obviously, the hardware limitations of the iPhone mean we can’t go quite as extreme, but with a small adjustment to your filming style, you can get surprisingly close to the real thing.”

In the end, Shineye delivers the feel skaters are searching for. A good takeaway here is that the goal isn’t to replace cameras like the VX1000 or the equipment that shaped skateboard filming for decades. Instead, Shineye aims to change the way iPhone footage looks and feels. It brings character back into smartphone filming, letting clips carry the same nostalgia and energy that made the VX era so iconic.

As Danijel puts it: “Trust me – this doesn’t replace your VX, but it lets your phone pretend it grew up in the late ’90s.”

Summary

Shineye doesn’t try to replace the VX or Digital camera setup and it doesn’t need to. What it offers is a modern reinterpretation of a visual language that still matters.

It strips away the backpack full of gear while keeping the fisheye look that defined an era of skateboard filming. It brings character back into smartphone footage and makes fisheye-style filming accessible to anyone with an iPhone.

For skateboarders and filmers who value convenience but still want that fisheye look, Shineye is one of the most exciting tools for 2026.

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Danijel Stankovic, Co-Founder of Shinner, said in a Solo Skateboard Mag Interview: “I always had this joke with Shinner that if Chuck Norris knew about it he would call it a “digital Swiss army knife” for skateboarding.”

Just recently, we headed out for one week to skate Barcelona and Copenhagen and tested the app (which is free and without advertisements) to get an understanding of the features the Shinner App can offer to the skateboarding community.

SPOT MAP

A key feature of Shinner app is a simple but very comprehensive spot map. Finding skateparks on Google is easy, but finding street spots can be an impossible mission. Having one central app showing a full breadth of spots in different categories (Ledges, Tables, Banks, Gaps, etc.) has been missing for years. The main advantage is having one app with spots all over the world, where everyone can contribute to building out the spot list and add new spots wherever they live. Next to spots there is also the option to add Skateshops which are usually the best and first contact of connecting to a scene. The “spot adder” can upload pictures, tricks and detailed descriptions, such as the best times to skate the spot. Once you find a spot through the app, Shinner is able to provide a route to get to the spot.

We traveled with a group of friends across multiple countries in Europe and made sure to hit up Barcelona and Copenhagen for the recent CPH Open. When it comes to these famous skate cities, it’s quite easy to find the notorious spots on the map, but Shinner came in handy in finding those less known skate spots that are hidden gems. The app helped a lot to cut back time on finding spots, which allowed us to have more time to skate. One of the perks of Shinner was that it had hidden, “locals only” spots in a lot of nearby smaller cities.

For those who are using Shinner back home, you can check your local area and scout spots you did not know about or were even forgotten. This gives you a chance to hit up spots and connecting to scenes that are close by that you haven’t even been to before. Furthermore, an awesome feature of the Shinner App is the “Spot Randomizer”. If you live in a city with too many spots or are always going to the same spots and getting tired of it, the Spot Randomizer randomly selects a spot for you, and perhaps one that you may have forgotten about. When it comes to meeting on a Saturday with friends, the Spot Randomizer decides the spot for you, gets you out of our usual routine and lets you explore spots you have not skated in a while.

The spot map is the core feature of the app and is absolutely amazing; it not only helps you find specific spots you want to skate but also drives you to explore and connect with skate scenes in your proximity that you otherwise would oversee.

EVENTS

When it comes to connecting with your local scene or even meeting new scenes from different cities, the Shinner app also features an separate event page that keeps the community updated on upcoming events and programming. Besides the obligatory Go Skateboarding Day Event, the app also shows other events like CPH Open, or even branded events. Not everyone can travel to CPH Open, so some Shinner events are accessible both virtually and locally.

The Event feature from Shinner is simple but powerful. The existence of one platform that host events or challenges can bring some spice to the sometimes boring local skatepark session. Features like spot hunts or uploading tricks and having a chance to win prizes, is just a way of adding some fun to skateboarding. Through these events, Shinner is not only fostering a close-knit scene but also offering an experience to complete challenges and adding an element of credibility to connect skateboarders globally.

CONNECT 

The final feature of Shinner we mentioned in this intro, is the Feed. It is basically a collaborative platform to share spots, tricks and to let your friends know when you go skating. Every time you upload a spot or video of you or your friends doing a trick, it shows up on the Feed. It’s a platform where you can also share your skateboarding session, apart from the ads and spam on Instagram. One key element of the feed is the Go! Skate Button. You can Go Live! and share with your friends when you go skating and where, if they end up meeting a bit later. The Feed is basically keeping you up to date but also a source of inspiration that pushes you to see new spots and tricks and meet new skate homies that also use Shinner.

SUMMARY

The Shinner App has key features such as the Spot Map, Event Page and Community Feed tool that are huge pluses in minimizing your time in finding spots and connecting with skateboarders globally. The app is free, and we definitely recommend downloading it if you’re curious of other spots/skaters around your area and join events. The Shinner team is adding on features constantly and are also open for feedback, so leave your ideas in the comments below or directly on the Shinner app.

P.S. we heard rumors about a hunt, Searching for Animal “Shins”. Get the app, search the “shins” – they might be useful in the future.

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