I have always been attracted to “old school” analog cameras. The type that have to be loaded with celluloid film rolls, have a removable lens, and a flash as big as the camera itself. The way they looked and the sounds they made were part of their charm.

Sadly, by the time I grew up, analog cameras have long gone out of fashion. It’s also pretty pointless to buy a high maintenance gadget with low quality output just to satisfy an itch from the past!

For those of us who love analog cameras, Hipstamatic lets us get a hang of it right from our iPhones. Let’s go check it out.

Interface

Hipstamatic has a landscape only interface that is designed to mimic that of an old school analog camera. With a variety of lenses, and film rolls providing virtual analog textures, Hipstamatic is a fun app that re-kindles nostalgia for those who had the opportunity to use a toy camera in their childhood.

Just like a real camera, Hipstamatic sports two sides – front and back. With a narrow slit on the left showing the brand of film roll being used, a rectangular view finder in the middle and a slider flash control just beneath it, Hipstamatic does a phenomenal job of replicating an analog camera’s rear side.

However, the big yellow shoot button is also placed on the back, because of the inherent design of the iPhone.

Back View

When it comes to the front side of the camera, Hipstamatic has hit the bull’s eye. With a calligraphic name, a flash, and a pixel perfect lens design, the front side of the app looks more like a scale model of an analog camera.

Makers of the app could consider hiding or relocating the row of tiny icons at the bottom of the front view to make it look a touch more lifelike. You can flick between the front and back side of the camera by using the arrow key located at the bottom right corner.

Front View

Changing the Lens

The camera lens is the primary changeable accessory on the font side of the camera. Hipstamatic comes loaded with three free lenses – John S, Jimmy, and Kaimal.

John S and Jimmy Lenses

If you need to add more variety, there is an option to buy three more lenses – Williamsburg, the Portland, and Shibuya, for 99 cents each as in-app purchases.

Each of these lenses has a unique texture and they can be changed by just swiping across the front view of the camera.

Camera Flash

Just like in case of camera lenses, Hipstamatic has a pair of free flash accessories – Standard and Dreampop.

Flash Options

You don’t have to fork out extra bucks for buying the new Berry Pop flash or the three type of flash gels – Cadet Blue, RedEye and Laser Lemon – they come bundled when you purchase the Shibuya and Williamsburg lenses respectively.

A small downside with changing of flashes is that there is no way of knowing for sure which type of flash you are currently using. You will have to flick to the front side of the camera and have to find it by accessing the flash icon.

Even though there is no built-in flash in the iPhone, the flash accessory changes the texture and quality of the images captured using the app. A tiny flash indicator on the back side of the camera will prevent the annoyance of stopping a shot when in doubt.

Filmrolls

To start with, you have two types of film rolls – Ina’s 1969 and Kodot Verichrome – to load your analog camera with.

Choosing a Film

Blackeys B+W, Supergrain, Alfred Infrared, Pistil, and Float are the premium film rolls that come bundled when you purchase lenses, or through exclusive in app purchases of 99 cents each. Film rolls play an important roll in making your picture more dramatic and the effects can be previewed by using the “More Info” option.

Taking a Picture

Now that we have assembled the perfect analog camera to our tastes, let us put it to field test. Taking a picture is pure iPhone style; just point and touch the yellow button. You can choose to add the flash effect by using the flash slider.

When you turn on the flash, the sound effect produced by the app is reminiscent to the sound when the actual flash of an analog camera warms up. However, the shutter noise emanated when an image is taken is the same even when lenses are changed.

Example Images

Hipstamatic app gets as dramatic as it can. After the picture is taken, the view finder shows a progress window with a “Developing” status message with three tiny LED indicators. After a few seconds, the picture is transferred to the Recent Prints section and the viewfinder is open for a new image to be taken.

Pictures taken are moved to the Recent Prints section which stores images resized into smaller square images with a frame. The full sized images can be viewed from the Photo Library.

Recent Prints

With the sheer number of combinations available using the wide collection of camera “accessories”, it might not be possible to remember which combination produced a picture that you liked the most. Hipstamatic comes to rescue.

Just tap on the image you like and you will find the details of lens, film and flash used. Much to our delight, Hipstamatic allows us to use the same set up once again in  a single click, thus saving us from the hassle of rinse, wash and repeat.

Change the Camera Settings

Final Thoughts

Hipstamatic allows you to share the images you have taken with your friends by uploading directly to Flickr, Facebook or through email. Apart from the wide range of customizable accessories for the camera, the app itself can customized from the Settings page in the Home screen.

You can choose to launch the app with the front or back side of the camera and the viewfinder mode can be changed from Classic to Precision framing from this page. There is also the option to make the app develop high quality images, which comes with a disclaimer that the time taken to develop will be longer.

Hipstamatic also organizes contests for like minded analog photo enthusiasts to compete amongst themselves. Pictures can be submitted from the Recent Prints section and the prizes vary from iTunes gift certificates to getting your images showcased across the globe as a part of a travelling show. These competitions are a shrewd marketing move from the Hipstamatic team.

The app is decently priced at $1.99 and the in-app purchases of lenses are also reasonably priced. However, it seems a bit greedy when they sell unbundled film rolls at 99 cents a pop while the two free film rolls available are not on par with the rest of bundled accessories.

Despite this shortfall, the app is beautifully designed, fun to play with, and does deliver what it promises.