One of my Twitter followers asked me had I tried this App? While my first thought was "this thing will never be accurate enough", I decided to give it a shot in a real world scenario. Last week I had the pleasure of teaching a lighting class down in Texas. The lighting I was using in my class was the NEW Westcott Spiderlite TD6's. Since Spiderlites are a continuous light source it was the perfect opportunity to try out this App. Before I even remembered that I had the App on my iPhone someone in my class asked me if I ever used a light meter? Of course the answer was yes. I have a very nice Sekonic light meter, but I rarely use it in my studio. One reason is that I shoot tethered and I can see where to make adjustments after the first shot. Secondly I usually know where to start with my settings in my own environment. However, this time I was in a new setting. I had already taken some shots and got the results I wanted, but I decided to fire up the Pocket Light Meter app and see if it woud give me the same readings/settings.

It was really close

The shot above taken before metering was at 1/80, f/5, ISO 400. Had I not locked in the shutter speed in the App it would have been right on the money.

I was impressed with how well this worked. It was more accurate than I thought it would be. It takes a few moments for it to lock in, but in a pinch it should get you in the ballpark. If the App is consistently off in your environment there is an exposure compensation slider that lets you better calibrate the App for your setting. Just tap the i to ge to the controls.

 

The Bottom Line

This App doesn't replace a dedicated light meter! What it does do is give me a light meter that I will always have with me since I always have my iPhone with me. It has no way of working with or triggering a flash. If you're doing flash photography this won't be of much help. For the price (Free with Ads), you have no reason not to try it. I wish it would lock on a little faster, but part of that is limited by the camera on the device as well. While there is a Hold button on screen so that you can raise your device up to grab the reading and then hold it so that you can lock it in and see it as you bring your hand back down I'd like to see that button be larger or better let it be the whole screen. In other words hold down anywhere on the screen to capture the reading. I'd also like to hear a beep once the reading has been captured so that I know I can bring my hand down. 

You can get a larger display and remove the ads with a $0.99 In App Purchase.

You can get Pocket Light Meter for Free here from the iTunes