iPhone light meter even better!

Mainecoonmaniac · Jun 6, 2011

Now this is cool. The Light Meter app is even better. Now you can log via Drop Box. It will take a photo, log the exposure and geotag. Once you've logged on to your Dropbox account. The photos and data is uploaded into a folder. Way cool! Remember those days of those paper logs? Well no more! I've tested the app against my minolta meter iv and it's pretty accurate. Here's the link:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pocket-light-meter/id381698089?mt=8

2F/2F · Jun 6, 2011

If they built a waterproof incident meter into an I-Phone, I may actually get one!

Colin Corneau · Jun 6, 2011

I have this app, and use it quite a lot. Still have my Pentax analog spot meter for those times I need that, but most times this works great for me.

Still one of the best bargains out there.

Lee L · Jun 6, 2011

Colin Corneau said:
Still one of the best bargains out there.

iPhone + 2 years voice and data is very close to US$1900 from what I can find. Then whatever the app costs. That's about US$70/month in continuing usage costs for the life of the device/contract. I guess it depends on what you decide to count and not count.

Lee

MaximusM3 · Jun 6, 2011

Lee L said:
iPhone + 2 years voice and data is very close to US$1900 from what I can find. Then whatever the app costs. That's about US$70/month in continuing usage costs for the life of the device/contract. I guess it depends on what you decide to count and not count.

Lee

I doubt anyone would buy an iPhone to simply use as a light meter.

Curt · Jun 6, 2011

I have both lightmeters on my iPhone but I hadnt checked the log out 'till just now. It takes the bite out of pen and pad.

Lee L · Jun 6, 2011

MaximusM3 said:
I doubt anyone would buy an iPhone to simply use as a light meter.

As do I. However, a light meter with an ongoing monthly cost of US $70 (even if it's a shared cost) doesn't appear to me to be one of the best bargains out there, and that outlay is required before one can use the app. Obviously individual folks will decide for themselves about that, and the apps are selling.

Lee

naeroscatu · Jun 6, 2011

Funny thing hapenned recently at a photo shoot meet-up with fellow APUG-gers in Hamilton, Ontario when some one pulled out his IPhone or Blackberry to measure light with a dedicated app. I asked him to compare his reading with my 58 years old Zeiss Ikophot. There was no difference. That is not to say one is better than the other.
I'm happy that my job never forced me into owning an IP, BB, androids or whatever they call them today. Such a device comes with the expectation that you are available to your employer/ customer 24/ 7 so even if you don't pay for it it still takes away some of your freedom.

Mainecoonmaniac · Jun 6, 2011

Me too

naeroscatu said:
I'm happy that my job never forced me into owning an IP, BB, androids or whatever they call them today. Such a device comes with the expectation that you are available to your employer/ customer 24/ 7 so even if you don't pay for it it still takes away some of your freedom.

I do tech support and I'm glad my emplover doesn't make me carry one. It's an electronic ball and chain. I love my job, but I don't want to mix the two.

Curt · Jun 6, 2011

Mine is for personal use. Internet, maps, travel etc..

Colin Corneau · Jun 6, 2011

Lee L said:
As do I. However, a light meter with an ongoing monthly cost of US $70 (even if it's a shared cost) doesn't appear to me to be one of the best bargains out there, and that outlay is required before one can use the app. Obviously individual folks will decide for themselves about that, and the apps are selling.

Lee

At the risk of descending into a pointless circular off-topic argument which the internet is so good at, my point was predicated on the assumption that one has an iPhone already...certainly a more reasonable proposition than one that somebody would get an iPhone just for an app.
As you were....

Roger Thoms · Jun 6, 2011

Lee L said:
iPhone + 2 years voice and data is very close to US$1900 from what I can find. Then whatever the app costs. That's about US$70/month in continuing usage costs for the life of the device/contract. I guess it depends on what you decide to count and not count.

Lee

Hey sounds like a bargain to me, don't quite follow your logic.

Roger

MattKing · Jun 6, 2011

I was going to say it is neat that you can actually make phone calls using your meter, but I won't

David A. Goldfarb · Jun 6, 2011

It doesn't replace an incident meter or a flash meter or a 1-deg. spot meter, but it's pretty handy, and if you always carry your iPhone, then it's the meter you've always got with you, which makes it a pretty good replacement for a pocket meter like, say, the Digisix. The Digisix takes incident or wide beam reflected readings like a center-weighted averaging meter and can give the ambient temperature, which is useful for peel-apart instant films. The "Light Meter" app is around a 10-deg spot meter and is slower to react than a normal light meter, which one can learn to work with, plus an iPhone can do a lot of other useful things like give sunrise/set, run The Photographer's Ephemeris, perform various useful photographic calculations, measure tilt and swing angles, serve as a compass and level, map, internet, timer and even a dedicated photo processing timer, records voice, typed, and handwritten notes, and even makes phone calls.

tkamiya · Jun 6, 2011

I'm still waiting for someone to write an app so that I can turn my Sekonic into a phone.

M.A.Longmore · Jun 6, 2011

tkamiya said:
I'm still waiting for someone to write an app so that I can turn my Sekonic into a phone.

.
I'm sure it's possible. If you don't mind an olde fashioned rotary dial ...

Ron
.

ArtTwisted · Jun 6, 2011

Not quite related, but I love the massive dev chart iphone / ipod touch app, times are accurate and the audio reminders have greatly improved my accuracy. i will definitly check out the light meter app, might prove useful for my yashicamat sans meter. Ive to date been carying around a olympus XA to use as a very rough meter.

Mainecoonmaniac · Jun 7, 2011

Love the Massive Dev Chart too. But it's a starting point for me. I had to tweak the times for how I work. The audio ques are very helpful because I day dream while I process film.

Newt_on_Swings · Jun 7, 2011

Yes! the massive dev chart is awesome, but I too tweak all the numbers for my own developing methods.

I tried a few of these lightmeter apps before and they didnt work well on my iphone 4, so I just stick to my polaris which is pretty light and easy to carry around too. plus I can throw it around my neck and hope not to kick it with my legs lol.

Tony-S · Mar 21, 2012

So is this still the best light meter app for iPhone?

Mainecoonmaniac · Mar 21, 2012

I also use this one. It simulates an analog meter with fancy sound effects that can by annoying. The Fotometer Pro app is pretty good. Don't know if it's the best.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fotometerpro/id439913393?mt=8

Pocket Light Meter will save your reading as a photo with f/stop and shutter speeds with GPS coordinates too. The price is right with this one. It's FREE.

semi-ambivalent · Mar 21, 2012

MaximusM3 said:
I doubt anyone would buy an iPhone to simply use as a light meter.

Not to mention the NSA's requests for contact sheets...

s-keepin' my nose clean-a

ChristopherCoy · Mar 21, 2012

Lee L said:
As do I. However, a light meter with an ongoing monthly cost of US $70 (even if it's a shared cost) doesn't appear to me to be one of the best bargains out there, and that outlay is required before one can use the app. Obviously individual folks will decide for themselves about that, and the apps are selling.

Lee

Your point of view is about as distorted as a Petzval.

To say that someone is using an iPhone, and/or would buy an iPhone solely as a light meter is asinine.

However, down here on earth, folks such as myself who got rid of their home phone, and use an iPhone as a cell phone, home phone, work phone, merchant services card processor, portfolio, email client, mileage tracker, gps navigator, weather forecaster, traffic checker, music player, address book, and social network connector..... why not enjoy the use of a handy light meter.

Mainecoonmaniac · Mar 21, 2012

So true. And the best light meter is the one you have with you and I always carry my phone. It's not as precise as my Minolta spot meter, but it will do in a pinch. It's within a stop during most average readings.

MaximusM3 · Mar 21, 2012

ChristopherCoy said:
Your point of view is about as distorted as a Petzval.

To say that someone is using an iPhone, and/or would buy an iPhone solely as a light meter is asinine.

However, down here on earth, folks such as myself who got rid of their home phone, and use an iPhone as a cell phone, home phone, work phone, merchant services card processor, portfolio, email client, mileage tracker, gps navigator, weather forecaster, traffic checker, music player, address book, and social network connector..... why not enjoy the use of a handy light meter.

100% correct! I can run my business on my iPhone, and I do a few times per week. The phone has paid for itself a million times over. The fact that it can actually double as a pretty good light meter, is a nice little bonus for a photographer

iPhone light meter even better!

Mainecoonmaniac

2F/2F

Colin Corneau

Lee L

MaximusM3

Curt

Lee L

naeroscatu

Mainecoonmaniac

Curt

Colin Corneau

Roger Thoms

MattKing

Moderator

David A. Goldfarb

Moderator

tkamiya

M.A.Longmore

ArtTwisted

Mainecoonmaniac

Newt_on_Swings

Tony-S

Mainecoonmaniac

semi-ambivalent

ChristopherCoy

Mainecoonmaniac

MaximusM3

iPhone light meter even better!

Moderator

Moderator

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency