Light Meter App

[tecboy]

Has anyone tried the light meter app on your mobile device?

 

[Light Guru]

There are several light merger apps out there. Are asking about them in general or about a specific light meter app?

 

[480sparky]

Which 'the' app?

 

[tecboy]

Just wondering, how accurate are those light meter apps? I have 'Light Meter Wheel' downloaded to my iPad.

 

[Light Guru]

Just wondering, how accurate are those light meter apps?

Best way for you to know that is to compact it to another light meter like the one in your camera.

 

[480sparky]

Just wondering, how accurate are those light meter apps? I have 'Light Meter Wheel' downloaded to my iPad.

I don't think you can lump them all together to compare them to actual readings. Some may be dead on, others may be off by a mile.

 

[Buckster]

I don't think you can lump them all together to compare them to actual readings. Some may be dead on, others may be off by a mile.

Maybe someone has made comparisons already with one or more apps, found one or more of them to be "dead on", and would like to share which apps those are.

Just a thought...

 

[480sparky]

Maybe someone has made comparisons already with one or more apps, found one or more of them to be "dead on", and would like to share which apps those are.

Just a thought...

Maybe I'll just download a few and drag race 'em against my Gossen tomorrow.

 

[480sparky]

Well, I did just that this morning. It's a hazy day, but there's plenty of light outside to check them in both bright and dim locations.

I downloaded two apps, Light Meter Free and Light Meter. In some cases, they both gave me the same reading as my Gossen Starlite, and I double-checked for 'proper' exposure by shooting a gray card and checking the in-camera histogram.

But in most cases, both apps were off by 1-2 stops, mostly due to how the phone is held relative to the light source. Because of the white dome on the Gossen, it gave more consistent (and correct) results without having to be concerned with 'aiming' the dome toward a light source such as a window or doorway. Both phone apps reported severely overexposed information unless the face of the phone was aimed squarely at the light source.

Both apps did much better outside with plenty of light. Indoors under dim light, the readings were all over the place, from 3-4 stops over to 2-3 stops under. Again, this is a result of how the camera is aimed in relationship to the source(s) of light. I had to be a contortionist to get the phone properly 'aimed' to get a reading that matched the Gossen. This could be problematic if you have multiple sources, either indoors or out.

I suppose for free, one can't ask for much. And one may be able to learn how to benchmark the apps to better interpret the results. And lacking anything else, they're better than nothing and can provide you with at least a starting point so you can bracket a bit less than if you were just guessing.

But gimme a real meter any day.

 

[Big Mike]

As far as I've seen, the light meter apps act as a reflected light meter. You point them at the scene that you would shoot, and they give you your three settings. In other words, they do exactly what the camera's built-in light meter does.

Please correctly me if I'm wrong, but these are not meant to be used as an incident light meter, which meters the light directly (not the light reflecting off of the scene).

 

[tirediron]

As far as I've seen, the light meter apps act as a reflected light meter. You point them at the scene that you would shoot, and they give you your three settings. In other words, they do exactly what the camera's built-in light meter does.

Please correctly me if I'm wrong, but these are not meant to be used as an incident light meter, which meters the light directly (not the light reflecting off of the scene).

That's my understanding.

 

[Gary A.]

I'm really interested in a light meter app. (Even though I've recently acquired a new handheld meter.) I think it would be great to have as a backup.

 

[480sparky]

As far as I've seen, the light meter apps act as a reflected light meter. You point them at the scene that you would shoot, and they give you your three settings. In other words, they do exactly what the camera's built-in light meter does.

Please correctly me if I'm wrong, but these are not meant to be used as an incident light meter, which meters the light directly (not the light reflecting off of the scene).

If your phone has a front-facing camera it can be used as an incident meter. The second one listed in my post above has that capability. There's a button to toggle between I and R (incident and reflected), which switches between the two cameras.

 

[Big Mike]

As far as I've seen, the light meter apps act as a reflected light meter. You point them at the scene that you would shoot, and they give you your three settings. In other words, they do exactly what the camera's built-in light meter does.

Please correctly me if I'm wrong, but these are not meant to be used as an incident light meter, which meters the light directly (not the light reflecting off of the scene).

That's my understanding.

If that's the case, then people don't really need these. They might be 'cool', but if your camera was made sometime in the last 50 years, then you don't need another 'reflected' light meter...even if it's hand held.

The thing that makes a typical 'hand held' light meter useful, is that it can be used as an incident light meter. The incident light, is that which is falling onto the scene....as opposed to reflected light, which is what reflects off of the scene.

The problem with any reflected light meter, is that reflected light is a result of the brightness/reflectivity of the subject (or the parts of the scene that are being read (ie the metering mode)). The problem with that, is that meters have to be calibrated for a specific reflectivity (middle grey)....so they are only accurate when metering off of something that is, or averages out to be middle grey. If they meter on anything brighter, or darker, they will give you an inaccurate exposure value, and you need to compensate in order to get a proper exposure.

An incident light meter, meters the light directly. This takes the reflectivity of the subject out of the equation, and thus it doesn't have the inaccuracy problem of reflected light meters.

So to recap...if these light meter apps work they way I assume they do, they are only 'reflected' light meters.
Practically everyone already has a reflected light meter built into their camera, so these apps don't do anything that your camera can't already do.

 

[Big Mike]

As far as I've seen, the light meter apps act as a reflected light meter. You point them at the scene that you would shoot, and they give you your three settings. In other words, they do exactly what the camera's built-in light meter does.

Please correctly me if I'm wrong, but these are not meant to be used as an incident light meter, which meters the light directly (not the light reflecting off of the scene).

If your phone has a front-facing camera it can be used as an incident meter. The second one listed in my post above has that capability. There's a button to toggle between I and R (incident and reflected), which switches between the two cameras.

OK, well that is more interesting....and something I'd have to see for myself.

Thanks.