Hipstamatic Is 'Very Much Here to Stay,' Company Says After Layoffs

Still, it’s impossible to deny that Hipstamatic has been eclipsed by the breakout success of its (free) competitor Instagram. Today Instagram released version 3.0 to its 80 million users as Facebook jockeys to close its $1 billion acquisition of the company. Meanwhile, Hipstamatic’s former employees are bitterly job hunting via Twitter.

Allow me to go on a bit of a tangent about some photography philosophy before I circle back to commenting on this article.

I love Hipstamatic. The effects are wonderful and I really dig the analog philosophy they are going for. Digital is bringing in more and more and more photographers, and that is awesome, but it is also bringing very bad habits.

The chief bad habit, I think, is taking too many photos at a time. That is, seeing something you think is cool and snapping 36 photos of it instead of just one. Why is this bad? Well, besides giving you more photos to sort through later, this is taking the mindfulness out of the equation.

(Before I continue, let me add that there certainly are occasions when you want to — even need to — mash that button down and get as many exposures as you can. Sports, for instance.)

I’m not necessarily arguing folks should practice visualization1, but it is often very helpful to slow down and thinking about what you want from a photo before pointing and clicking.

So I love how Hipstamatic forces us to slow down. You have to pause and select the best “lens” and “film” for the scene, then after you snap it, you have to wait 30s or more before you see a result. This forced mindfulness is a good thing, I think.

Having said that, it’s not for everyone. I completely agree with this comment on the story.

Hipstamatic could have easily been Instagram if they weren’t so damn greedy. Give the app away for free to get it onto more devices and allow people to purchase effects if they want. I used to use it, but it’s too much of a hassle. When a photo opportunity turns up, I don’t have time to go through lenses and filters to take the shot. Instagram got it right – quickly take the photo and then take your time finding the perfect effect.

As much as I like the “photo zen” qualities of Hipstamatic, it does kind of go against the idea of a point and shoot camera. My kid does something funny, I want to be able to whip my phone out and take a photo as soon as possible so I don’t miss the moment.

Add Instagram, a service that lets you snap the photo as quickly as you need to, and apply a filter later. That is free.

And that’s the nail in the coffin for Hipsta. It’s 2 bucks for the app, then a buck for every filter you want… And how many filters are there now, 10-15? Those of us who bought the app a few years ago when it was first released and who have bought the new filter package every few months are mostly ok with this, but this is way too much money to most new users, especially when compared to free.

I’m sorry to say it, but I don’t see Hipstamatic lasting unless they can either expand to new markets and/or hit a home run with another app.

  1. Although it is a good skill to practice. Watch that clip to hear the Master — Ansel Adams — give his thoughts on it. ↩

Increase iPhone Typing Speed & Accuracy

Creative tip. I tried it—it works surprisingly well.

Quick Tip: Increase iPhone Typing Speed & Accuracy — Apple News, Tips and Reviews: “If you’re trying to type a word that your iPhone does not know, simply type an extra letter on the end of the word and then delete it. So if I was trying to the type the word ‘Apple’ and I knew my iPhone would not recognize it, I would type ‘Applez’ then delete the ‘z’ off the end of it and then can just press spacebar without the phone trying to auto-correct me.”