I am getting very tired repeating myself these last several months as to the direction of recent lens and film releases from Hisptamatic. Since nothing has really chanced, I will simply proceed to share my test results with you on the Brushwisk HipstaPak with Hanna lens and accompanying Otto film.
Hipstamatic would like you to believe that this combo is well suited for portraiture witht he examples they provide, I have to strongly disagree. Brushwick over-sharpens what ever is photographed, and is not only contrasty, it holds no detail in the highlights, it desaturates certain colors and saturates others, as you will see in the following examples. A true portrait film and lens combo produces nature colors with a little touch of warmth and while sharp, there is no over sharpening and no contrast.
When I first viewed a few results on the iPhone 5S, I felt we had a wonderful clean color film and a sharp lens similar to the Lowry, which is Hipstamatic’s sharpest lens to date. Yet after uploading the images to the laptop and seeing them on a larger screen, my hopes were dashed. Even now, I simply do not know what to make of this combination.
Let’s look at the positive side of the Brushwick HipstaPak. Because of the extra over sharpening capabilities of the combo, city images take on an interesting look and when you view at the sidewalk image among the examples, you can see how the asphalt and concrete’s textures just pop, yet the color of the curb that is to be orange, ends up being yellow.
In order to see how Brushwick HipstaPak combo renders a scene, I have also provided an example in which I used the camera application 6x6, as it displays the scene naturally.
Left example, 6x6 — right image, Brushwick
You can see that the red brick is more saturated, as is the blue typography in the left sign. There is less detail in darker shadow areas and a slight greenish color shift on the signage above the gate. We also see this greenish color shift when we look at the three examples of the cityscapes above, but also note that, that which is white, remains white.
It is clear the numerous colors are not only saturated but they also pop right of the image, while any detail in the white flowers is lost.
In the remaining examples, you can see I applied this combo not only to natural daylight, but also to various artificial light conditions in order to see how the colors reacted to the Brushwisk HipstaPak.
In the last example above, I do like the results, since all the metal parts are clearly defined and rendered accurately and only that the many white variations of tones are lost.
In the end, there are a few fine points to the Brushwick HipstaPak under certain conditions. Yet I have also found this film to be unpredictable now and then, making for surprises, a Hipstamatic trademark.
In general the combo Brushwick HipstaPak is limited as to what it offers the photographer and in the end, I cannot with good conscience recommend this months HipstaPak release, but then you will have to decide if you see any value worth your money.
All photographs taken with an iPhone 5S by
©2015 Egmont van Dyck - All Rights Reserved
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