IPhone light meter apps, are they good enough?

[Nikon 2]

I’m using the myLightMeter pro app and is it good enough…!

 

[Disappointed_Horse]

Every light meter app I've tried has worked fine (and I've tried a lot of them). I tend to use them as sort of an incident light meter by taking a reading from the palm of my hand. This prevents them from getting fooled by a dark or light subject. Works great in tricky lighting.

 

[BrianShaw]

Is the intent of this thread a question or declarative statement?

I don’t use a light meter app on a regular basis but compared a couple with reliable meters. They seemed reasonable so long as the limitations are known… just like any other light meter.

 

[VinceInMT]

I use myLightMeter as a backup when I don’t have my Gossen LunaSix3 with me and it works just fine.

 

[benveniste]

I’m using the myLightMeter pro app and is it good enough…!

It's your camera and your results which matter. Personally, I've compared the "Pocket Light Meter" app to my Minolta Flashmeter and found that any differences were in the "random noise" range. I still use my Minolta for monolight based setups, but for field use with my 4x5 or ancient Rollei, I use my phone.

Remember that unless you use a diffusion dome like those made by Luxi, your phone reports a reflected reading. I don't want to get into the reflected vs. incident debate again, thanks. Again, use what works for you.

 

[Nikon 2]

I use myLightMeter as a backup when I don’t have my Gossen LunaSix3 with me and it works just fine.

Do you think the myLightMeter pro app is close to the accuracy of the hand help meters…?

 

[Nikon 2]

Is the intent of this thread a question or declarative statement?

I don’t use a light meter app on a regular basis but compared a couple with reliable meters. They seemed reasonable so long as the limitations are known… just like any other light meter.

I heard that the better your phone the better the app will work…!

 

[Nikon 2]

Is the intent of this thread a question or declarative statement?

I don’t use a light meter app on a regular basis but compared a couple with reliable meters. They seemed reasonable so long as the limitations are known… just like any other light meter.

May I ask, how do you meter for a good exposure…?

 

[Nikon 2]

I use myLightMeter as a backup when I don’t have my Gossen LunaSix3 with me and it works just fine.

Good to know, thanks…!

 

[Sirius Glass]

May I ask, how do you meter for a good exposure…?

I meter either without the sky or the subject. Including the sky darkens the shadows and throws off the proper exposure, so let the sky fall where is chooses. [note the reference to Chicken Little et al]

 

[Nikon 2]

Every light meter app I've tried has worked fine (and I've tried a lot of them). I tend to use them as sort of an incident light meter by taking a reading from the palm of my hand. This prevents them from getting fooled by a dark or light subject. Works great in tricky lighting.

Do you have a favorite app that you think outperforms the rest…?

I meter either without the sky or the subject. Including the sky darkens the shadows and throws off the proper exposure, so let the sky fall where is chooses. [note the reference to Chicken Little et al]

I always use a gradation filter from Tiffen on my lenses so the sky won’t be bleached out…!

 

[Nikon 2]

It's your camera and your results which matter. Personally, I've compared the "Pocket Light Meter" app to my Minolta Flashmeter and found that any differences were in the "random noise" range. I still use my Minolta for monolight based setups, but for field use with my 4x5 or ancient Rollei, I use my phone.

Remember that unless you use a diffusion dome like those made by Luxi, your phone reports a reflected reading. I don't want to get into the reflected vs. incident debate again, thanks. Again, use what works for you.

Thanks…!

 

[VinceInMT]

Do you think the myLightMeter pro app is close to the accuracy of the hand help meters…?

I’ve compared them and they tend to be within a half stop or so. At first I thought I’d just use my phone because my Gossen takes those no longer available batteries but I bought the adapters for it and now use it all the time. I didn’t want to have another dead piece of equipment laying around, plus I prefer the ergonomics of using it to the phone.

 

[Nikon 2]

I’ve compared them and they tend to be within a half stop or so. At first I thought I’d just use my phone because my Gossen takes those no longer available batteries but I bought the adapters for it and now use it all the time. I didn’t want to have another dead piece of equipment laying around, plus I prefer the ergonomics of using it to the phone.

Interesting…!

 

[Disappointed_Horse]

Do you have a favorite app that you think outperforms the rest…?


I always use a gradation filter from Tiffen on my lenses so the sky won’t be bleached out…!

They all work fine, it's just a question of what UI you like best. I like Lightmatic on iOS. Pocket Light Meter is good too, although the UI hasn't been updated in 10+ years.

 

[Nikon 2]

They all work fine, it's just a question of what UI you like best. I like Lightmatic on iOS. Pocket Light Meter is good too, although the UI hasn't been updated in 10+ years.

 

[wiltw]

Light meter apps exist with a means to offset a reading with a user-specified correction factor. Load one of these apps, aim a known good (camera) meter and your phone at the same featureless uniformly illuminated target area (to neutralize any differences in the angle of meassurement or biasing caused by matrix metering/evaluative metering) and then add the correction adjustment to the phone app.

 

[Nikon 2]

Light meter apps exist with a means to offset a reading with a user-specified correction factor. Load one of these apps, aim a known good (camera) meter and your phone at the same featureless uniformly illuminated target area (to neutralize any differences in the angle of meassurement or biasing caused by matrix metering/evaluative metering) and then add the correction adjustment to the phone app.

It has been proven that the better the phone the more accurate the results would be…!

 

[Ko.Fe.]

It has been proven that the better the phone the more accurate the results would be…!

This message was sponsored by Apple.

 

[MattKing]

It has been proven that the better the phone the more accurate the results would be…!

This message was sponsored by Apple.

If you prefer:
The quality of your results also depends on the quality and features of the phone.
And it is difficult to evaluate how suitable your phone is, without trying the app.

 

[Chan Tran]

I have question for those who use light meter app. If you use 2 phones of same make and model and load the same app do they read the same? I can't do the test but I think that they don't.

 

[Nikon 2]

I have question for those who use light meter app. If you use 2 phones of same make and model and load the same app do they read the same? I can't do the test but I think that they don't.

All I know about phone apps is the better the phone the more accurate the meter readings will be. My myLightMeter pro seems very accurate…!

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I have question for those who use light meter app. If you use 2 phones of same make and model and load the same app do they read the same? I can't do the test but I think that they don't.

No. You have to test app readings with camera meter reading under different light scenarios.

 

[BrianShaw]

Same as with stand-alone light meters...

 

[Ko.Fe.]

All I know about phone apps is the better the phone the more accurate the meter readings will be. My myLightMeter pro seems very accurate…!

What exactly "better phone" means?
I had free light metering app on iPhone 4 which is very limited device and it worked so good, My Seconic in the the storage since then.