5 Camera Apps That Will Make Your Instagram Look Cool

By Karissa Lund  •  22 Nov 2017 in Listicle

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All the cool kids are doing it, and we are here to expose their secrets. Scrolling through Instagram, you might stumble upon images that look like they were taken by 35mm cameras. Something about the dust filters, grains, and light flares give them a nostalgic and hip feel. Even pictures with glitches are in too. But don’t let that fool you, cause in this modern world, everything is at your fingertips.

There are 35mm cameras enthusiast who actually use them, but if you’re doing it just for aesthetic, you really should reconsider. The downside of it is money and time; buying the film alone costs around RM15, and you can only take around 35 pics. The worst part? Processing the pictures is freaking expensive and can go up till RM50+. Not only that, you also have to wait a week to get them! When you’re done with all of that and you want to post them up on your socials, you need to scan the images so that you can ensure the quality. That’s way too much effort for just ‘aesthetics’.

Beside the 35mm camera look, glitches are something you might see popping up on you Insta-feed. Glitches are weirdly cool because it combines a lofi ‘90s feel with modernism. According to Wikipedia, glitch art is the practice of using digital or analogue errors for aesthetic purposes by either corrupting digital data or physically manipulating electronic devices. Editing it on a simple picture can really amp it up and give it character. Anyway, you get the point. Cool aesthetic pictures? Yes.

To make things easier, we took some photos of the same place – our JUICE printed magazine shelf (RIP print) – using these apps that are available on both iOS and Android, so that you can compare them yourself.

JUICE presents:

Five Photography Apps to Make Your Instagram Look Aesthetically Nostalgic:

1. Gudak Pro

Gudak Pro is basically a Kodak-like disposable camera in your phone. It strips away all modern features in favour of a vintage cam experience. You get only 24 shots every hour, so it’s kinda forcing us to make the best possible use out of every shot, much like it was with proper disposable shooters back in the day. After you take a pic, just like any other film, you have to wait three days for it to ‘develop’, or change your phone date to three days after if you want it instantly. FYI, it’s free on Android but for iPhone users, this is the only app on this list that costs money (RM3.90) for some weird reason.

2. Camcorder – VHS

If you like to create short films or clips, then this one is for you – it’s specifically for video recording. The filter that comes with it looks and sounds like videotape recordings that have been in storage for 30 years. We know this app has been quite “mainstream” lately, and it’s basically everywhere. But it wouldn’t be right to not feature this app on this list. Who wouldn’t want to document their memories the old-fashion way.

Check out this video created with this app:

3. Filterloop

Imagine VSCO Camera but on crack. This is our favourite among all these apps mainly because it has everything. You can edit in light flares, dust particles, and grains, even the filters are all aesthetically pleasing. And the best part, most of the filters are free! (Unlike VSCO but lets not get into that.) But the annoying part of having it mostly free, ads will pop up every once in a while. That’s the price you’ll have to pay for some pretty pictures.

4. Glitchr

This app is all about glitch art. It only comes with five filters but every one of them is unique. The tool is very easy to use and basically it just applies different filters to your images, such as VHS or 3D effects, green Game Boy tones, or even ASCII art. Let’s manipulate and get to glitchin’.

5. SLMMSK

SLMMSK is for all of you selfie lovers out there. Its filter only works if it can detect your face, and it’s pretty cool. When you first download the app, it seems a bit dodgy and suspicious. It doesn’t help that everything is in Russian too. So what you have to do is just click the bottom right for around four times, then you will get to the camera. There are ten filters on this and everything revolves around your face. Make sure to say cheese! Since this is a selfie app, we took a pic of one of our hardworking editorial interns. Take a look:

Now that you know all these ‘secrets’. It’s time to update your Instagram feed. It better be poppin’!

All of these apps are available for download via Apple Store and Play Store. 

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