hipstamatic

The retro iPhone camera app and one-time Instagram rival Hipstamatic is making its return to Apple's App Store today.

On October 1st, inventor of the smartphone photo filter Hipstamatic made its grand return to the spotlight by releasing Hipstamatic X: a free iOS camera app that hopes to "bring all the joy, quirk, and randomness of film photography to your pocket."

Before Instagram became a worldwide phenomenon, Hipstamatic was the cool kid on the block that popularized retro photo filters. And while Hipstamatic hasn't achieved nearly the level of popularity as the now-Facebook-owned app, it's still innovating: it has just launched a powerful new camera app called TinType that shoots realistic-looking tintype-style portraits.

Filtered photo sharing pioneer Hipstamatic is back with a new photo app that puts more emphasis on collaboration than it does on filters. Called DSPO, the new app is like a virtual disposable camera that can be shared among friends.

What would we think the surface of Mars looks like if NASA had equipped the Curiosity rover with a smartphone loaded with Instagram or Hipstamatic instead of the advanced scientific cameras they chose? Greek photo enthusiast Nikos Kantarakias decided to find out.

Hipstamatic has seen better days. Ever since Instagram came along and stole its thunder by offering filters for free, the app hasn't had the same following it once did. But the company isn't going to take this lying down. After having to fire several core employees last August, Hipstamatic is bouncing back by debuting a new social networking app called Oggl.

Photography purists, you might want to look away. For the rest of you: remember that Craiglist listing we shared a couple of months ago posted by a couple looking for Hipstamatic wedding photographers? Among the hoards of enthusiastic Hipstamatic shooters who responded were Keith and Marc, hosts of the iPhoneography podcast TinyShutter. After being chosen for the gig, they drove down to Connecticut from Massachusetts and New Hampshire to capture the wedding with their iPhones.

Before Instagram, there was Hipstamatic. Hipstamatic was one of the pioneers and heavyweights in the retro filter photo app space, but when Instagram came along, the price advantage (free vs. $2), ease of use, filter selection, and built-in social network allowed Instagram to turn into the new 800 lb. gorilla of mobile photo sharing.

The story is strangely similar to the history of Myspace and Facebook, and yesterday the narrative became even more identical. On the same day that Instagram rolled out version 3.0 to its 80+ million members, Hipstamatic laid off all but 5 of its core staff.

Would you shoot a wedding professionally with your iPhone and Hipstamatic? If you want to stay in business, probably not. But what if you were asked to do so, and paid for your work?

If you live near West Hartford, Connecticut, this might be an actual gig you can do. There's a couple there looking for one or two Hipstamatic photographers to document their wedding in mid-September (don't worry, they also have a primary non-iPhone photographer).

Smartphone use in Photojournalism is certainly not new, and Hipstamatic has been there from the start, but the San Francisco-based company's recent decision to start a Hipstamatic Foundation for Photojournalism is drawing equal parts criticism and praise.

Here’s a comic strip titled “Photography Job Interview” by …

iPhone photography app Hipstamatic was the king of retro filters before …

There's a number of notable iPhone apps out there that add a vintage look to your photographs (e.g. Hipstamatic and Instagram), but what if you want to shoot vintage-looking video? 8mm Vintage Camera is an app that does just that, allowing you to choose between a number of films and lenses. You can also turn on "jitter", adding an extra measure of realism to the look.

If you’re subscribed to the New York Times, you might have noticed some unique-looking war photographs featured as the …

SwankoLab is an image editing app for the iPhone and iPod that features a complete darkroom simulator with chemicals, timers, and the whole shebang.