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!

Oggl updates

The past couple of days have been kind to Oggl users, and though perhaps the people who work for Instagram aren’t quite so happy.

Yesterday, Hipstamatic made Oggl user profiles available to be viewed on the web by typing oggl.me/ plus the account username (ie. oggl.me/TRJH1991). Like the app, photos are divided into ‘captured’ and ‘curated’ sections – the difference being whether you took and edited the photo yourself (captured) or it is someone else’s work that you wanted to bookmark (curated).

The big news of the past couple of days however came in the Oggl 1.3 app update. Drum roll please…

You can now import photos from your camera roll into Oggl!

Doesn’t that just go against everything Hipstamatic has done in the past? Is it selling out morally to compete with Instagram?!

This latest feature will divide opinion – Oggl and Hipstamatic Classic are becoming two very different apps. Hipstamatic will appeal to purists, those who think the skill lies in being able to get a good shot without editing effects afterwards. Oggl is more mainstream, and therefore has more potential to sell.

Oggl has been steadily moving towards this point I think – there’s obviously been a plan in place to move things along and incorporate new features slowly, so as to still show that some of the Hipstamatic essence is retained.

Another new feature is that when you’re editing photos on Oggl, you can pinch and crop – again reminding us of Instagram’s basic options.

John S/Dixie/no flash

Oggl does code photos depending on their source – when you tap on a snap your profile or on the photo-feed, the right hand bubble will show a different symbol depending on the source. An import from Hipstamatic will be yellow, from your camera roll it’ll be will be red and white, and photos taken in Oggl will be grey. Imports from camera rolls or external apps will also be marked as ‘post-processed’.

What are your thoughts on the update? Like or loathe the direction that Oggl seems to be going? Let me know in the comments below!

Hipstamatic vs. Oggl

Back in May the people behind Hipstamatic Classic announced Oggl, promoted as “a community for creative people to capture and curate their lives through photography”.

Hipstamatic and Oggl app icons

As previously mentioned in the Hipstamatic vs. Instagram post, one of the main grumbles from some Hipstamatic users is that by setting the filter combinations before you shoot, you risk ending up with photos that just aren’t looking their best. Of course, that is part of the charm with Hipstamatic – you can wander around shaking your phone to randomise the gear and stumbling across a really good photo with a combination you’d never have chosen yourself – but there are those times when you just wish you could changed the lens or film afterwards.

Shoot first, ask questions later
Now, with Oggl, that’s one of the main features. Oggl is a camera-first app, so you take the photo and can then change the gear for different effects. It’s quite nice, knowing that you’ve chosen the right gear to produce the best photo possible. And compared with Instagram there are far more options and combinations as you can import your gear from Hipstamatic Classic.

Oggl capture and edit interfaces

Another bonus working in Oggl’s favour is the option to shoot from the front-facing camera – making those all-important selfies far easier. I’m still not sure why Hipstamatic hasn’t included this in one of it’s updates, although I suspect that it’s to do with the low-res quality of the front camera, and also that it’d kind of betray the spirit of Hipstamatic – no cameras ever shot from the front and back, and selfies are a bit self-indulgent anyway… Besides, if you want to take a selfie, just double tap the viewfinder so it fills the screen, then you can turn the camera around and just tap to take a photo. It takes a bit of practice but isn’t too hard to get the hang of.

Oggl also makes use of the favourites feature, allowing you to choose specific lenses and films to save for situational photography. These can be named (sport, sunset etc.) and are easily selected from the main camera interface. There’s also the option to change the exposure and focus before you take a shot.

Share the love
Now onto the curate features. To rival Instagram, Oggl allows you to share your photos (you can share directly to Oggl from Hipstamatic) with other users, employing hashtags and creating user profiles. Other photographers can ‘love’ your shared prints and follow you if they like your style. It’s all very slick and well designed, clearly based around not just the photos but the photographers as well. I think in comparison to Instagram, Oggl feels a lot more friendly and intimate – it’s just a shame that the market is already so dominated by Instagram (now owned by Facebook).

Oggl photo stream, profile and activity interfaces

In addition, you can connect your Oggl account to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Foursquare.

Pitfalls
Whilst Oggl certainly brings something new to the table and will no doubt entice a lot more people into the world of Hipstamatic (there’s a Windows phone version as well), it does lack some of the features that make Hipstamatic great.

Firstly, there’s no software flash, meaning that there are no more Dreampop light leaks or silvery tints from Tasty Pop. Flash is simplified to on or off, using the hardware flash. And then there’s the portrait orientation, which makes it feel like you’re using a phone rather than a camera.

Additionally, the app interface is very functional – there are no quirky design elements that invoke nostalgia for toy cameras, no camera cases just for the sake of being able to change the look… It’s a bit more simple and practical, and due to being able to change the photo effects afterwards, it’s fairly idiot-proof.

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In summary, I’m starting to find myself using Oggl instead of Instagram – when you’re low on time or not sure what gear combo to use, it’s easy to snap a photo and mess around with the affects afterwards. Hipstamatic Classic requires a bit more skill, time and patience, and I think that switching between the two apps will make the heart grow fonder for it.