LightMeter

Review by eFreeware

If you shoot film and would rather not carry a separate meter, LightMeter is built for exactly that situation. It is a paid Android app from developer David Quiles that uses the phone you already have to take light readings, with two metering modes and a set of controls that mirror what a handheld meter offers.

The appeal is straightforward: one less object in the bag, and a tool that stays useful whether you are loading a roll of film or checking exposure on a digital body. It has been on the Play Store for a long time, with more than 100,000 installs and a 4.2 average from roughly 1,500 ratings, which suggests a settled, if not universally loved, piece of software.

What follows is a look at what the app does, the hardware it depends on, and the kind of photographer it fits best.

Two ways to read the light

LightMeter offers reflected-light metering through the camera and incident-light metering through the light sensor. Those are the two classic approaches a photographer would recognize from a handheld meter, and having both in one app is the core of what you are paying for.

The two modes are not equally available across hardware. Reflected metering has more limited compatibility, and the developer notes that performance and accuracy depend on each device's hardware. Incident metering, by contrast, works on most devices. That distinction matters before you buy: the sensor-based mode is the one you can reasonably expect to function widely, while the camera-based mode is the more conditional of the two.

The app also supports spot metering when the camera allows it. Again, that is a hardware-dependent extra rather than something guaranteed on every phone.

Controls for film and digital workflows

The ISO range runs from 3 to 6400, which covers slow fine-grain films through to fast stocks and most digital settings you would reach for in normal conditions. There is an alternative ISO selector as well, useful if you prefer a different way of setting the value.

A low-light warning tells you when the reading is falling outside a range the app can handle reliably, which is the sort of prompt that saves a wasted frame. Vibration confirms both the act of measuring and the moment a reading is held, so you can keep your eyes on the scene rather than the screen.

For incident metering there is a reading hold, letting you lock a value and then move to compose. Calibration adjustment is included too, which is the feature that lets you bring the app in line with your own meter or your personal exposure preferences. Optional EXIF and sensor information can be displayed alongside the reading, and the app saves its current state and selected ISO between sessions, so you are not resetting everything each time you open it.

Where the hardware decides

LightMeter is not measuring with dedicated meter hardware; it is reading through a phone camera or light sensor, and those vary enormously between models. The developer is upfront that reflected metering is the more restricted of the two modes and that incident metering is the one with broad support.

That makes calibration more than a nice extra. If you rely on the app for critical work, the adjustment control is how you reconcile its readings with a trusted reference. It also means a phone upgrade could change how the app behaves, which is worth keeping in mind if you shoot regularly.

The app costs $2.49 as a one-time purchase. There are no ads and no in-app purchases, so nothing interrupts a reading and there is no second tier to think about beyond the separate PRO version the developer points to for anyone who wants it. Recent updates have been limited to bug fixes and minor improvements, which tells you the app is being kept in working order rather than reshaped.

Film shooters first

LightMeter is aimed at film photographers who want a pocket meter. That is the clearest signal about who it is for. If you are loading rolls, working with a camera that has no meter or an unreliable one, and you would rather not add a handheld meter to your kit, this is the gap it fills.

Digital photographers can use it too, particularly for incident readings when the in-camera meter is awkward to interpret, or for checking a scene before setting up. The ISO range and the calibration control make it flexible enough for that, though the film-first framing is where the app's priorities clearly sit.

Anyone considering it should weigh the hardware dependency against the price. At $2.49 with no ads or purchases, the cost of trying it is low, and the two-mode approach gives you a fallback if one method proves unreliable on your particular phone.

A pocket meter worth carrying

LightMeter is a focused tool rather than a broad photography app, and that focus is its strength. Incident and reflected metering, an ISO range of 3 to 6400, calibration, reading hold and a low-light warning cover the essentials a film photographer needs from a meter, and the absence of ads and purchases keeps the experience clean.

The trade-off is that accuracy is tied to your phone's hardware, and reflected metering in particular is not available or dependable on every device. The developer is honest about that, and the calibration control gives you a way to work around it if you are willing to put in the effort.

I would point this at film photographers who want a meter that lives on their phone, and at digital shooters who want incident readings without extra gear. With a 4.2 average from around 1,500 ratings and a one-time price, it is a low-risk addition to a camera bag, provided you accept that your device's sensor and camera will have a say in the results.

What's new in version 2.0.6

Bug fixes and minor improvements.