The Great Hipstamatic 100

Found an old recording

2009-10-26T17:19:34Z

This is a little jiggle made by a couple of Michigan musicians that were friends with Winston. It is a terrible recording as I wasn't sure how to get a cassette to play on my computer. However, I have sent to tape to the guys making the iPhone application and they will be creating an ad with it.

Hipstamatic.m4a

It is happening

2009-09-17T17:08:13Z

When the guys from Synthetic first approached me to turn the Hipstamatic instead an digital camera I have to admit, I was confused what that actually meant. As it turns out it is really a lot more interesting than I had thought. The iPhone application will recreate the experience of using the original Hipstamatic 100. I think that Winston and Bruce would be very proud to know that they have influenced a new generation of people that love to capture moments in time and pay tribute to what they wanted to do 25 years ago.

Ryan and Lucas gave me the news about an hour ago that they will be proceeding with the project and that the Hipstamatic should be available for download later this fall for people with iPhones.

Be sure to go to the new website for the digital Hipstamatic application, Hipstamatic App

Interesting News

2009-07-29T23:56:19Z

Today I met with two young gentlemen that want to bring back the Hipstamatic, well, sort of. They are interested in bringing it back as a digital application for Apple's iPhone. I will be sure to keep everyone posted. They will be spending the next few weeks using two of the original Hipstamatic 100s to get an idea of how it works, and the type of images it takes.

Amazing Tribute for the Hipstamatic -- Yeah, there could be an app for that!

Thank You All...

2009-06-22T09:27:46Z

Good Morning Hipstamanics.

I realize that it has been forever since I last posted, and I thank all of you for your emails. I too wish that the Hipstamatic was available today. I would love to give one to each and every one of you. However, there were only 157 Hipstamatic 100s ever produced -- 154 of them were sold, and my family has only 3 in our storage unit (1 white, 2 black). Next time I am down there I promise to bring one back with me and start shooting with it.

That brings me to the question, Can you still get film processed?

Collection of Photos and Memories

2007-07-07T19:04:55Z

I came across a hand full of images that I thought I would share. Sadly since we lost most of our family photos in 1993, there isn't a ton to choose from.

< Abby locking the boys in the plastics area

< Winston getting the first deal to sell the Hipstamatic at the local electronics store.

< Bruce buys new hunting gear, yet he didn't have a gun. I think he just liked the girl behind the counter.

< Bruce pouring plastic into the A1 mold.

< The Result of Bruce pouring plastic while Winston photographed him instead of helping with the mold.

Bruce and Winston have plastic balls

2007-06-23T18:42:20Z

When it comes to making things happen no one did it better than my brothers. Bruce was a real life Macgyver when it came to making things in shop class, and Winston never once took 'NO' for an answer, even if he was wrong. My brothers were two of the hardest working people I had ever know. The only person that worked harder was our dad. Working as a logger well into his 80s, the man didn't stop working until the day he died.

After Bruce and Winston got the idea to make a plastic molded camera they worked 18hr days until they figured it out. They had a small cabin on the river that they used as their studio, and from dawn til dusk they would spend the day creating plastic sculptures, photographs, and paintings. In November of 1982 they would finally make a mold for the Hipstamatic A1 lens. By the end of the month they had made their first 5 Hipstamatic 100s. Locally everyone knew them as the "Crazy Hippies on the Lake," but that did stop the local newspaper from writing a short article on them and the Hipstamatic. (Unfortunately the collection of works and archives of my brothers' Hipstamatic adventure were destroyed in a house fire in 1993.)

The view from the Cabin.

Hipstamatic History

2007-06-23T18:19:52Z

Founders: Bruce and Winston Dorbowski
Founded: November 1982 (Unofficially, as in no lawyers)
Location: Merrill, Wisconsin, USA

The Idea: Bring people a camera that cost less than the film. Bruce had a Russian plastic camera that our father gave him as a Christmas gift in 1972. The camera had since broke and was no longer being made or sold, at least anywhere he could find it. So Bruce and Winston came up with a plan to recreate something similar. Winston had fallen in love with his Kodak Instamatic and that was the start of the Hipstamatic.

Camera Specs

Model: 100

Material: Plastic Body, Plastic Lens

Produced: 1982-84

Type: View finder camera

Lens: Hipsta A1

Film: 35mm

Picture Size: 28mm x 28mm

Original Cost: $8.25

Focus: Automatic

Aperture: 2.8

Flash: hot shoe

25 Years Later...

2007-06-22T15:59:01Z

In the summer of 1984 my two little brothers, Bruce and Winston were struck by a drunk driver at 4:13 PM June 21st on HWY 17 between Merrill and Wausau, WI. That day forever changed my life. I am setting up this website as a way to remember my brothers and the passion they had for art, photography, and their ability to make things happen.

Just two years earlier, Bruce and Winston had been attending Art school part time and had come up with what they thought was a million dollar idea for bringing photographic art to the masses cheaply. In the winter of 1982 they had developed a camera that was made entirely of plastic, including the lens. They molded and manufactured the camera under the name Hipstamatic out of their 650 sq ft river front cabin on the waters of the mighty Wisconsin. We all referred to the molding area as the 'Animal Room' because the smell reminded us of burning rubber and roadkill.

The Hipstamatic was born out of a love of the Kodak Instamatic and a desire to make it something even children could afford on a small allowance. My brother Bruce once said, "It doesn't matter if the photos aren't prefect -- as long as people are capturing memories I will be happy." At the time I didn't agree, but now in my fifties I finally understand what he was talking about.