The Hipstamatic Camera app for iPhone has become a viral app as more and more users are uploading nostalgic looking "vintage" photos to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. The Hipstamatic app is modeled after the ill-fated 1982 Hipstamatic. Ahead of its time, this little plastic camera featured color gels, interchangeable lenses and gave no more than 200 lucky customers the ability to use different kinds of film.
Today, after investing less than $2, iPhone users can choose from a variety of film and filters that come with the starter pack, or get wild and purchase additional films and filters. The company also has an app called SwankoLab where modern phone photographers can alter their images by altering the chemicals and exposure times in their own simulated darkroom.
Hipstamatic for Android
Hipstamatic fans will have to keep waiting a little while longer for the release of the Android version. Until then, try the FX Camera app. It's totally free but definitely has limitations. It comes with auto focus control and 4 filters, plus an easy interface for sharing, saving and rotating photos. Unfortunately, there's no way to retrieve the photo without the filter and no way to apply filters to photos that were taken in the past.
Other Android photo apps, like Picnik and Adone's Photoshop mobile allow users to edit photos right from their phone. PlinkArt was actually designed for iPhone, but their Android app is a way for users to catalog and search for photos on their own camera and online, similar to Shazam.
Hipstamatic for Blackberry
The Creation of a Hipstamatic App for Blackberry phones has yet to be announced, so blackberry users will have to play with PhotoColor, which allows users to recolor images, in a style similar to Andy Warhol's. Also, the FaceLift app is a fun way to distort someone's face in a photo, making their nose longer, their head bigger, etc. PopArtMaster is another Blackberry camera app for editing photos, which allows users to create pop art from images stored in their phone.
Other Blackberry phone apps allow users to share photos instantly, similar to the way Hipstamatic works. Itookthisonmyphone (Yes, it's one word) sends photos to Facebook, Twitter, Photobucket, MySpace, Youtube and Flickr. Snap2Twitter gives users the option of appending a tweet (Twitter message) to each image before sending off to Twitter.
Until the folks at Hipstamatic release an app for Android and Blackberry users, the non-iPhone-toting members of the planet will have to enjoy the funky vintage look of Hipstamatic pictures through Facebook, the Hipstamatic Flickr and Twitter.
Lisa Russell - Lisa Russell is a freelance writer and mom of six daughters. She blogs about their life at lisarussell.org
