Gear: Seven HipstaPak & iOS7 app update

Bonus gear alert!

To coincide with the release of Apple’s new operating system iOS7 today, Hipstamatic have surprised users with the Seven HipstaPak, which includes two new cases and three new flashes for the standard 69p price.

The catch is that it’s only available to download once you’ve updated your iPhone. I just started the download about an hour ago and at the rate it’s going, I’ll be lucky if it’s finished by the morning. So no screenshots from me for the time being I’m afraid!

It’s also reported that there may be issues with the Pak showing up even for people running iOS7 so keep checking and be patient with Hipstamatic – it’ll be working in no time fingers crossed!

The last time a flash was included in a Pak was the Pop Rox flash in the Groupie SnapPak last March (I think), so it’s a surprise to see any new ones.  They’re colour pop flashes, so along with the Laser Lemon, Cadet Blue and RedEye gels, there’s now Leprechaun Tears, Purple Raindrops and Juicy Orange to add a tint of colour to your photos.

I never really use any of the colour gels so it’ll be interesting to see how I get on with these – once I manage to get iOS7 working. I’ll post up a few test shots over the next couple of days.

Apple’s new software update introduces distinctly flat design to the iPhone, as opposed to the skeuomorphic (where iPhone elements mimicked real-world objects) design of previous user interfaces.

The new cases in the Seven HipstaPak are created with this shift in style in mind – they are also flat to “match the look and feel of iOS7”, and come in black and white.

The Hipstamatic 270 update brings a new user interface to the app as well.

On a final note, apologies for the lack of update recently – I started my new job in London a couple of weeks ago and have been finding it difficult to fit blogging into such long days. Must try harder.

Let me know your thoughts on the new gear and update, and I’m happy to share your best snaps with the new flashes too if you like!

 

Hipstappreciation: Alfred Infrared

As part of the Camden HipstaPak, the Alfred Infrared film has been around since the beginning of Hipstamatic Classic. I remember using it when there were only a few different gear options to choose from, but as more and more Paks have been released I’ve pretty much all but stopped choosing it.

I tend to favour films that don’t override the natural colours, whereas Alfred Infrared dominates with red and purple tones.

Hipstamatic says this about the film: “Popular with art school kids in the 90’s, Infrared film by Alfred picks up the light that other films can only dream about”, describing the style as “gradated film warmth”.

I used to think it a shame that the bold blues and greens of films like the John S were often drowned out if paired with Alfred, but this photo that I took a couple of weeks ago has made me give it a second chance now and again.

John S/Alfred Infrared/no flash

So I thought I’d pay a bit of attention to Alfie and round-up a few photos from my archives. Some of the gear listed may be incorrect as I don’t have official record of what was used – some of it is intelligent guesswork!

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Gear: Buenos Aires HipstaPak

Today is a good day.

A new HipstaPak was released today, this time drawing inspiration from the Argentine capital and Argentinian photographer Diego Uchitel. The Pak is available on both Hipstamatic Classic and Oggl.

It includes a lens, the Diego, and two very different films: the Uchitel 20 and the Blanko 16.

The lens doesn’t dominate too much with one colour, but it does add subtle stripe marks to some of the photos, which is quite nice and gives it a bit of unique character.

I haven’t had a chance to get out shooting with the new gear yet but tried out the lens and films on a couple of photos in Oggl.

The Uchitel 20 has a distinct vintage look to it, producing images that are sepia-toned with an irregular off-white border.

Diego/Uchitel 20

The Blanko 16 is a bit of an uninspiring film in my opinion – it’s like the Blanko Freedom13 but without the little coloured stripes – but it does give your photos a nice slightly desaturated look. It’s a film that lets the lens do the talking, which is sometimes perfect for a shot.

Diego/Blanko 16

I’m looking forward to having a go with this new gear, so I’ll do a post next week with the results. Happy Hipstamatic Friday!

Hipstadventures: Lake District, Pt. 2 – Johnny boy

As mentioned in yesterday’s Hipstadventure post, I made use of reliable old John S in the Lake District during a rare window of sunshine and blue skies.

I teamed the John S lens with Blanko Freedom13 to give a sharp, clean border – I’m a fan of minimal borders a lot of the time. I used to hate using the shake to randomise feature and ending up with the Kodot XGrizzled film, with it’s messy edge. I am starting to come round to it, after four years, but it still wouldn’t be one of my default films. I remember loving the Blanko Freedom13 film when it first came out because it was just very clean around the edge.

John S was the perfect lens to choose for shooting photos of a big lake with clear sky above and rolling green hills around – it boosts greens and blues to create stunning nature shots. Think I’ll be saving that combo to my favourites from now on… Boy done good.

John S/Blanko Freedom13/no flash

John S/Blanko Freedom13/no flash

John S/Blanko Freedom13/no flash

John S/Blanko Freedom13/no flash

John S/Blanko Freedom13/no flash

John S/Blanko Freedom13/no flash

John S/Blanko Freedom13/no flash

John S/Blanko Freedom13/no flash

John S/Blanko Freedom13/no flash

John S/Blanko Freedom13/no flash

Gear: Know your Paks

Know your HipstaPaks from your SnapPaks? With 30 lense, 10 flashes, 33 films and 21 cases, knowing what you’ve got and what you’re missing can sometimes get a little confusing. Here’s a quick guide to the different gear Paks on offer from Hipstamatic.

Different types of Pak
There are several different types of Paks, and understanding them makes things a bit easier:

1. FreePaks: the name gives it away – these are free to download, and are often linked to a film, brand or event (Cowboys & Aliens, Nike, SXSW etc.).
2. GoodPaks: the money raised from these goes towards charitable causes or ventures.
3. HipstaPaks: bundles of gear that work well together but are also versatile – “not designed for any specific situation or lighting condition, but rather as general use equipment” (Ryan Dorshorst, co-founder).
4. SnapPaks: collections of gear that have a specific primary purpose, such as portraiture or food photography.
5. RetroPaks: these give you the chance to buy limited edition gear after its original release period. Often only available over selected weekends, RetroPaks don’t include camera cases from the original Paks.

It’s also worth noting that standard HipstaPaks tend to be available indefinitely, whereas the other types of Paks are often limited edition. It’s good protocol to just download Paks as soon as they’re released – that way you won’t be kicking yourself if you miss a killer bit of kit!

Promotional artwork for Soho/Mac & Milk Paks

For a full list of add-on equipment that’s available, check out the gear hub over on Hipstamatic’s webpage.

Hipstadventures: Lake District, Pt. 1 – São Paulo style

I’ve just got back from a short family camping trip in the Lake District. We stayed for two nights at Waterside Farm Campsite on the edge of Ullswater, just by the small village of Pooley Bridge.

My parents bought a 1973 VW Camper last summer, and have spent the last year doing it up, so we booked a little family time away – the five of us plus three dogs.

Gus the Bus – Hornbecker/Robusta/no flash

Internet signal was terrible, weather was mixed and three dogs in a tent was interesting, but I got a few good snaps on my Hipstamatic. I tried to experiment with a few lenses and films that I’ve not given much time to before, and some of the results surprised me.

The São Paulo HipstaPak, released in June, came with the Madelena lens and Robusta film – bringing some Brazilian warmth to our British summer. Previous attempts with the Madelena left me unimpressed – in low light scenarios the lens can dominate and ruin photos, making detail in dark areas indistinguishable. The film is actually quite nice – a semi-messy white border that doesn’t interfere with the effects of whatever lens you’re using.

Having tried using the Madelena in a variety of situations, I think the key is to make sure that whatever you’re shooting has plenty of light. If there are large areas of dark objects or shadows, you’ll lose any definition to them.

The Lake District and Brazilian-inspired gear sometimes make an unusually good match – see below!

Madelena/Robusta/no flash

Madelena/Robusta/no flash

Madelena/Robusta/no flash

Madelena/Robusta/no flash

Madelena/Robusta/no flash

Madelena/Robusta/no flash

I’ll be sharing a few more of my photos from the weekend in a future blog post – John S did it again!

Gear: DIY?

I remember coming across a blog post a few years ago where a Hipstamatic fan had mocked-up a lens based on Chambord, the French black raspberry flavoured liqueur (it was around the time I was trying my hand at amateur mixology). Anyway, having started this blog, I thought I’d have a trawl and see if I could find it again.

Bingo.

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The Chambord lens is created by Brooke L. Hudson (who seems to have a thing for the Chambord brand), and looks really well done in my opinion. It’d be cool to see more mock-up gear like this. There are discussion threads on Flickr where people talk about jail-breaking their iPhone and actually creating new films and lenses (or modifying the existing gear), but there’s no way I’d jailbreak my phone or have the technical know-how/courage to mess with Hipstamatic. Plus, I’m not sure how appealing that is really – I’d probably always see Hipstamatic’s official gear as the pinnacle of design, and any of my amateur attempts would be a bit disappointing.

I had a root for some more mock-ups like Brooke’s above, but nothing really came up. I think the alcohol inspired lens is really cool, and could lead to others – a really clear and sharp Absolut lens with neutral tones maybe, or a dark and stormy sepia-toned Captain Morgan film…

What do you think of Brooke’s work? Any other ideas for a really unique bit of gear?

Gear: Long Island FreePak

Last Friday, August 2nd, saw the release of the latest gear – the Long Island FreePak. A small offering compared to some previous Paks: a black and white film and camera case, which is a little disappointing when other Paks tend to include at least two bits of really useable gear (a case doesn’t really count, as it does nothing to the photos, only the aesthetics of the app). It is a FreePak though, so I can’t complain too much.

Long Island HipstaPak promotional material. Copyright belongs to Hipstamatic.

Seemingly inspired by the recent Great Gatsby movie (a Great Gatsby FreePak would’ve been swell), the case is a little tacky in my opinion. Dubbed Ol’Sport (someone say Gatsby?), Hipstamatic says “this art-deco inspired case is styled to impress”.

Good day, Ol’Sport

The film is another for the BlacKeys family – we already have BlacKeys SuperGrain (a great B&W film) and B+W, and now there’s BlacKeys Extra Fine (XF). The BlacKeys Extra Fine is just that – it produces very sharp black and white images with a perfectly clean border.

It does slightly annoy me that the BlacKeys branding seen in the first two films hasn’t been carried through to this one – usually Hipstamatic’s graphic design is spot on.

Minor gripe: inconsistent branding across the BlacKeys film family

I experimented with the new film when I was out at the weekend so here are a few of the best snapshots.

Tinto 1884/BlacKeys XF/no flash

Lucifer VI/BlacKeys XF/no flash

Watts/BlacKeys XF/no flash

Americana/BlacKeys XF/no flash

Have you found any swell combinations with the BlacKeys XF? Liking the clean edge or do you prefer a border? Comment below and let me know.

Gear: John S lens

The John S lens is definitely one of my staple lenses, it’s versatile and is quintessentially Hipstamatic having been included for free in the app since the very beginning. It works well with simple films, such as any of the Ina’s (1935, 1969 & 1982), and brings out vivid blues and greens, so perfect for forest and beach shots.

Be careful of using it in low-light portraiture without a flash as the subject may be cast in shadow due to the vignette effect.

Below are a few shots I’ve taken using John S.

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Gear: OG/GS-0 film

Recently, I’ve been really digging the OG (formerly GS-0) film, which adds a white rounded border to your shots. It was part of the Gangster Squad FreePak that included the G2 lens and Gangster Deco camera case, and really makes the Pak worth it in my opinion.

Apparently the name changed from GS-0 to OG when RetroPak 3 came out, but because I got the film beforehand, my Hipstamatic still calls it the GS-0. I have noticed that on Oggl that it’s OG as well.

I think it’s a bit of a grower, maybe because it’s so unlike any other films that Hipstamatic has offered before – usually borders are quite discreet and don’t take up too much of photo, whereas this is really bold and obvious. The last few times I’ve tried shooting with the OG film the results have been great.

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One thing to be careful of when choosing to use this film is that it tends to over-expose photos a little bit, which can be great for some low-light shots, but can ruin other photos. See the comparison below.

Exposure: OG vs Ina’s 1935. Hornbecker lens, no flash.

To combat any overexposure, try teaming the OG film up with a darker lens such as the Wonder, Americana or Madelena.

Your thoughts on the OG? Any tips or combos that work particularly well? Let me know!