Have a soft spot for lo-tech cameras like the Diana-F, Holga or the Hipstamatic 100? Have an iPhone 3G, 3Gs or 4G?
If you answered yes to both of these questions, you'll want to check out the story of The Great Hipstamatic 100, and the Hipstamatic iPhone App.
Briefly, the Hipstamatic 100 was a low-cost clone of a cheap, Russian plastic camera that was made in the early 80's by a pair of brothers in Wisconsin. 157 of the cameras were made before they were killed by a drunk driver. 154 of those cameras were sold — the other three remained with the family.
Now, the folks at Synthetic are making what may be the ultimate plastic camera emulator, and it's an app for the iPhone. For a couple of bucks (for a limited time) you get a snazzy app that sports a small selection of "lenses", "films" and a "flash." And, additional lens and film sets (called Hipstapaks) are available for only 99 cents.
You'll probably not be able to print poster-sized prints from the images made with Hipstamatic, but I have made an 8x8 of the attached picture on cheap, plain paper, and it actually looks pretty good.
While we're at it, cell-phone cameras are getting to be pretty darned good these days. Even the stock photo application on the iPhone can be used to make some fun images — even under some pretty challenging conditions.
The image of vocalist Troy Fisher was made at the Recher Theatre in Towson, and is shown here pretty much straight out of the phone. Is is a "perfect" image? No, it's certainly not. But, it captures the raw energy of the moment in a way that a top-notch DSLR never could.
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