Classic Camera by Hipstamatic

…pizza was a camera app. It would be this one

I use this app all the time but I’m not buying anymore packs until there’s a decent update…UPDATE: been waiting for this. Still can’t change the ISO without the app crashing. ☹️4/25/24: ditto 9/23/25: can anyone explain why the ISO has to remain on Auto? Every attempt to change it still makes the app crash. 12/26/24: still can’t change the ISO😒

I bought Hipstamatic on 4 January 2013 and have used it virtually daily since then. It has documented the first moments in the life of my daughter, her development over the years, our family's life together, my friends, work and everything in between. For me, it is an absolutely indispensable app that lets me add a sense of analogue realism too my photos, something which I, as a film photographer, deeply miss in the perfect digital "captures" that the phone outputs with the ordinary camera app. Having used the app for more than a decade and on several iPhone models and iOS versions I have noticed a few things that could be improved. One is the general stability of the code. It happens that the app crashes. I have seen this on all iOS versions since 2013. Another is the ease of use of the app with respect to zooming, when one uses the non-camera case mode. The slider really should move when the phone is held horizontally. Keeping the slider at the top of the screen makes one-handed use very difficult. A third thing concerns introducing "click stops" in the zoom range for the phone's various cameras. This would help knowing that a shot is made at native resolution. Even though phone cameras are very good these days, shooting at a lens's native resolution has an impact on image quality. In this vein it would also be helpful if the app were made compatible with the new camera button to simplify shooting and zooming. The last thing concerns iOS integrating. To someone like me who uses this app almost exclusively it would be wonderful to be able to set Hipstamatic as the standard camera. I realise that for Hipstamatic the focus may be on the other subscription-based app. I may be in the minority but I don't subscribe. I prefer to buy my things, be it phones, software, music or movies. I'd rather pay more for an app than have to shell out money on a monthly basis for its use. Nevertheless I hope that Hipstamatic will contribute to develop the standalone app as there's nothing like it in the iOS universe. Those are my thoughts. I thank you not only for taking them into account, but generally for having created a camera that keeps the love of real analogue photography alive in this day and age of ever more "perfect" images. Cheers Philip Dygeus (philipus.com)

I’m so bummed they discontinued the print lab. It was my favorite service to have my pics printed. 😩

This could be fun but it’s so frustrating. App changes film and lens settings on startup (and no I do not have shake for random effects enabled). Switching from classic to pro regularly magnifies the view screen in really weird ways. It won’t import photos taken with native camera app—just hangs or displays a blank. I paid for the starter pal and which I didn’t.

Remains an absolute joy for shooting and editing. Have been happily sending these guys a buck a month for years. Too bad that model has been discarded. The app needs dusting off, with a few UI glitches that have built up over the last couple of years. The new Hipstamatic could be great, but is remarkably unstable for a dedicated camera app.

A bug in the recent update rendered my app unable to load any of the recently unlocked (for Makers members) films and lenses. Allan and Ryan worked on this bug literally for several months, and sent me messages, unprompted, along the way to let me know where they were at in the process of getting things fixed. They didn’t stop until it was fixed, and messaged me immediately when the fix was finally implemented. This wouldn't result in any extra sales for them - in fact, the fix enabled me to download items without paying for them anymore (the well-worth-it benefit of being a member), but they followed through to make sure it was resolved for me. I’ve never had an app developer that focused so intently on one user’s experience, and their efforts just go to reinforce that Hipstamatic remains my favorite iOS app to this day.

Alas occasional internet issues not their fault connecting to addons — but my probs resolved right away. The one time I needed customer sec, years ago, they were very helpful. Think I will switch to the subscription version next year.

Ignore the app that’s actually called Hipstamatic. This is the original Hipstamatic.

Changing my original review from a five star to a one star. I used to love this app. Now I can’t access any of the film packs and other gear I purchased. Apparently you have to subscribe now? I paid for the gear. Why do I need to subscribe?