Light meter application on your iPhone?

[rxmd]

It's quite unlikely with most mobile phones. The iPhone is no exception. I tried to write a light meter app at some point and realised it won't work.

Compact CMOS sensors don't have a shutter and an aperture in the strict sense, they work using a photon gating "bucket" method where basically they collect light from the various sensor areas until certain thresholds are met. That's why you can take strange pictures such as this one:

(from BoingBoing.net: "Photon gating" makes for interesting cameraphone pictures)

As a result, there's no way to infer the actual light level from the images taken, and the EXIF info is worthless. The only way to infer light levels is if you take a standardised light source, place it from a standardised distance from your camera and take a photo. But in this case you don't need a light meter anyway.

 

[Al Kaplan]

I'd rather have Quality Light Metric come out with a way of fitting phone components into the empty spaces inside my Weston Master V. Maybe the selenium cell could also act as a trickle charger for the phone battery?

 

[russianRF]

Maybe the selenium cell could also act as a trickle charger for the phone battery?

No, it couldn't. Your cellphone batter uses/needs a LOT of juice. The trickle charge off a small selenium cell would almost be eaten up entirely in waste (heat) charging the battery.

 

[Paul T.]

No, it couldn't. Your cellphone batter uses/needs a LOT of juice. The trickle charge off a small selenium cell would almost be eaten up entirely in waste (heat) charging the battery.

Humor Bypass Alert! Humor Bypass Alert!

 

[russianRF]

Humor Bypass Alert! Humor Bypass Alert!

It didn't seem like a joke to me. Or at least, looking at it as a joke, it doesn't seem very funny to me. Chalk it up to the loss of nuance and inflection on the internet. Also, chalk it up to the fact that there's an endless supply, online, of misinformed people with earnest comments; I thought he was being serious.

But I do appreciate being given a "humor bypass ALERT" as opposed to a polite "I think it's just a joke, dude."

 

[uhligfd]

Which cameras (modern) do not have a superior lightmeter than one that an i-phone could ever include?

OK, there are still thousands of Leica Mlow numbers users, but enough to sell more than a dozen i-apps?

What is the business model here? (I use the meters inside my cameras [sorry, I have no M2] and a bit of good sense.)

 

[Blake Werts]

Which cameras (modern) do not have a superior lightmeter than one that an i-phone could ever include?

OK, there are still thousands of Leica Mlow numbers users, but enough to sell more than a dozen i-apps?

What is the business model here? (I use the meters inside my cameras [sorry, I have no M2] and a bit of good sense.)

The idea/intent was never as lofty as to replace, or even compete with, the modern precision light meters or those found in "modern" cameras. This is more for those of us who are still shooting with cameras from the era of the handheld meter--or those that attach to the camera's hot shoe.

 

[rxmd]

I would have liked it to work, but it won't. I ended up hacking together a Python version of the Ultimate Exposure Computer tables for my Nokia E60, which was just as useful even though it doesn't meter light.

Philipp

 

[MacDaddy]

Look at an application in the App Store inside iTunes called "Exposure Calc". Several developers ARE working on a version of a light meter usable inside an iPhone!

 

[rxmd]

Look at an application in the App Store inside iTunes called "Exposure Calc". Several developers ARE working on a version of a light meter usable inside an iPhone!

Exposure Calc (aka iKspozher) is just another version of the good old exposure tables. You select lighting conditions from a list and it tells you an exposure value from a list. It doesn't use the phone's camera.

Philipp

 

[Leigh Youdale]

Black Cat

Black Cat

I've had a look at the iPhone Apps store (Exposure Calc) and it's a start, but I agree with FreeRanger - if the Black Cat calculator could be converted to an iPhone App it would be a more versatile application and I too would be interested. It doesn't actually measure the light or work with the iPhone camera but as a pocket calculator for film users it would be great.

 

[Bassism]

I've got a couple exposure charts on my iphone, and I really find that they're more of a pain than they're worth. A piece of paper is much faster than turning on the phone, waiting for the app to load, then using the slider.
I've never used the Black Cat calculator though, and it does look pretty comprehensive, which could make up for the cumbersomeness.

At this point I'm waiting to see what Apple puts in the 3.0 SDK. I'm hoping with the addition of video, they might also go through and give access to the phone's metering or put proper exif info in the photos. I still think that a halfway useful meter in my phone would be pretty great.

 

[Juancho]

Why don't you consider adapting a cell phone into a Weston Master? 😉
Just a joke, good luck with the experiment.

 

[Larky]

A friend and I were chatting recently about the possibilities of developing a "light meter" application for the iPhone and wondered if there would be enough interest to push something like this to the official iPhone App Store.

Would you use such application if it were available? What features would you require to make it useful for your photography routine?

Hey, if you need any help with dev or artwork let me know.

 

[SuitePhoto]

Thought I would bump this thread back to the top b/c of Apple's announcement about the new iPhone today. Watching the MacRumors site for live updates, they mention that the new generation iPhone has a new camera, and developers will have access... Hmmm...

 

[ampguy]

I'd take a look at it, but wouldn't buy it. I only use free apps.

 

[umboody]

Would be pretty difficult to program I'm guessing, but I presume it would be cheaper than getting a dedicated lightmeter. Wouldn't trust it for professional use though...

 

[brainwood]

My usual meter is my trusty weston V but I have often pondered the iphone exposure meter wish list myself.
In theory it sounds possible.. I am surprised no-one has yet written an application.
If I could save carrying an extra object in my pockets (leave behind the weston in favour of the iphone exposure meter) I would jump at the chance. So long as its acurate and reliable. I think thats the bottom line for me.

 

[Brad Maestas]

I have been using some photo calc apps like DOFMaster and PhotoBuddy. I use PhotoBuddy quite a bit. Its exposure value conversion is particularly useful to me. But for reasons already mentioned, I would not hold my breath for any kind of reliable reflective TTL metering app being developed for the iPhone in the near future, at least not until they upgrade the dismal camera. Even after several favorable hardware/software updates, I think you'd still be hard-pressed to compete with a dedicated or in-camera metering unit. I think that having any kind of accuracy and reliablity is still a ways off. In the mean time I think we can expect to have several feeler apps released until things start to actually get serious.

 

[Al Kaplan]

At least once a year you'll get stuck learning the proper sequence of button pushing to read the light because if the battery gives up the ghost the phone store will talk you into a newer better phone. Then they'll stick you for thirty bucks for a car charger because they ALL use different plugs.

Have you ever seen a cell phone with an incident dome? My Weston Master V does everything I need and I don't have to turn it off at meetings.

On the Good News front I can now get away with walking down the street talking lovingly to my light meter and nobody thinks that I'm crazy. Hey! That's it! A light meter with a built in phone!