Light meter application on your iPhone?

Light meter application on your iPhone?

  • YES you bet I would! I want it now!

    Votes: 178 46.2%
  • Yes I would download it and use it on occasion.

    Votes: 74 19.2%
  • Maybe... I'd give it a look to see if it interests me.

    Votes: 47 12.2%
  • Nah... I'm happy with what I'm using.

    Votes: 10 2.6%
  • Not at all interested. I enjoy carrying this old meter around!

    Votes: 16 4.2%
  • I don't have an iPhone so it doesn't matter anyway...

    Votes: 83 21.6%

  • Total voters
    385
I'm using this on my 3GS too, Sug, and like it quite a bit. In particular the three measurement rectangles and how you can show respective measurements on an f-stop scale at the right.

Roland.
 
I have it already on my iPhone 4 and it works fine!

I have it already on my iPhone 4 and it works fine!

Great for my Pinhole photography :)
 
Hi!
I can't seem to find fancy light meter on installous or anything.
i have an iphone 3Gs updated on iOS4 and jailbroken.

the other lightmeter gave up on me also =/
 
Hey guys....2 months ago I was in San Francisco and I was gifted a new iphone 3gs.....when I came back to Bangkok I got it unlocked and jailbroken.......I just bought the Lightmeter app, I originally wanted the app above that sug posted about, but I learned that I need to be running 4.0 and I am currently running 3.1.3....so, until I can upgrade my unlocked phone, I decided to purchase the only light meter app that would work on my phone....I just tested it up against my sekonic L-358 and it is within a half a stop....which is fine with me......I am pretty good with guessing the exposure anyways, but it's nice to have a back-up meter.....

Well, I have been carrying my m6ttl a lot recently because of the built in meter and the fact that I have been too lazy to carry my L-358...if I go out with a camera bag, then the meter comes with me, but lately, I've been just going out with one body and one lens (no bag)........now that I have this app on my iphone, I think my Hasselblad is going to see more use and my M2 and m3 will be replacing the m6ttl for the time being.....

Funny thing is, before I was given this iphone, I could of cared less about the thing, but now, I think that having this light meter app on my iphone will motivate me to use the other meterless cameras that I have more often......

before, when I would leave the house, I would look at my 3 m-bodies and quickly decide on the m6ttl because of the built in meter, that and the fact that I really don't like going out all day with a light meter strapped to the side of my belt.....granted, the iphone is "big", it fits into the pockets of my jeans....where, the meter would be attached to my belt and looks like an 80's cell phone case.......

cheers, michael
 
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Not only is there one already, there are at least two. Lightmeter from Ambertation, $1.99, I think, is the more cumbersome of the two: You have to snap a photo first, then the app analyzes the snapshot. Pocket Light Meter, from Nuwaste Studios, is free and works like a light meter should: just point and get a reading. Pay an extra 99 cents to have the ads removed from the bottom.
 
If the iphone is able to select the correct exposure for the phone and take a photo, process it using HDR and send it as a text message or an email it must be able to give you the correct exposure right on the screen. <----- fuzzy logic but why not
 
Hokey applications and ancient hacks are no match for a real lightmeter at your side.

Honestly, these applications all work (as I learned when my Sekonic was in for service), but the iPhone is an ergonomic nightmare compared to, say, an L-358 - the latter can be operated with one hand, does not have a slippery grip surface, works when you are wearing gloves, and does not time-out or require an unlock every 30 seconds. It can also be connected to a short strap (or clip). The other thing is that "real" meters have much wider averaging capability for reflected light than the iphone apps out there now.

And I'm not sure where you are shooting, but recently, I have been in some sketchy places where a Rolleiflex (and meter) attracts no attention but a late model iPhone attracts all the wrong attention (primarily because it has a tendency to convert you from antique-camera nerd to surveillance person pretty much immediately).

Dante
 
I use "light meter wheel" and it's perfect. It gives an oldschool readout on a wheel. The ISO and other controls are all operable with one hand, you switch between reflected and incident light with the up and down volume buttons. All combinations are instantly visible. I use it inside and outside, for studio and casual shooting, and it seems very accurate.

It cost a couple bucks (I forget how much), and I don't have to carry another doohickey in my pocket - my iPhone is always on me.
 
I use the "Pocket Light Meter" app. Seems to work pretty well.

I find that app terrible. It only seems to be accurate in good light, but so is Sunny F16. In dim light it is way off, and sometimes reads "too dark" even though it is still at hand holdable speeds.
 
Hokey applications and ancient hacks are no match for a real lightmeter at your side.

Honestly, these applications all work (as I learned when my Sekonic was in for service), but the iPhone is an ergonomic nightmare compared to, say, an L-358 - the latter can be operated with one hand, does not have a slippery grip surface, works when you are wearing gloves, and does not time-out or require an unlock every 30 seconds. It can also be connected to a short strap (or clip). The other thing is that "real" meters have much wider averaging capability for reflected light than the iphone apps out there now.

And I'm not sure where you are shooting, but recently, I have been in some sketchy places where a Rolleiflex (and meter) attracts no attention but a late model iPhone attracts all the wrong attention (primarily because it has a tendency to convert you from antique-camera nerd to surveillance person pretty much immediately).

Dante

I agree here.

I love my iPhone, having come back from an Android Samsung, and I like the idea of keeping the number of things I carry around down to a minimum but I just don't find a phone to be the best, quickest or easiest way to use a light meter.

Handy, just not as easy for me.
 
I have given up on pocket light meter on ios because it seems not to be accurate any more. Now I use Luxi. So far it does a lot better than pocket light meter. Its interface is not perfect, but that comes second to the accuracy of metering.
 
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