{"id":9398,"date":"2022-05-27T14:19:41","date_gmt":"2022-05-27T14:19:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/?p=9398"},"modified":"2026-04-01T23:59:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T23:59:54","slug":"light-meter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2022\/05\/27\/light-meter\/","title":{"rendered":"Light meter"},"content":{"rendered":"

These days almost all digital cameras offer excellent light metering, The old fashioned “light meter” has become a “thing of the past” to a large extent. Nevertheless they do still have their uses.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For those still wishing to flirt with light meters but who don’t want to fork-out to the \u00a3100 or so that a hardware device could cost, there are some quite good light meter emulations for smartphone. I won’t pretend that an emulation will always behave exactly the same as a real hardware meter. They work by using the smartphone’s built-in cameras as light sensing devices – often using the front camera for incidental and the rear for reflected light. But then, most of these light meter emulations are either free or perhaps, just a few quid.<\/p>\n

ngg_shortcode_0_placeholderBiggest downside of all these emulations is that you cannot use them in flash-trigger mode – there’s no flash socket on a mobile! But for everything else, and considering the very low (or even zero) cost, they can still be pretty damned good. My favourite by-far is David Quiles’ emulation. His looks and behaves just like an old-school light meter – with a few handy modern extras. It displays both EV (exposure value) and Lux (luminous flux). The reflected sensor mode actually allows you to zoom-in on the source of light too and displays EXIF info from that camera’s own light sensor. Raft of other calibration tweaks and adjustments to for those with geeky inclinations. A couple of screenshots, if I may…<\/p>\n

Quiles’ emulation was free when I first downloaded it a few years ago. Seems he wants \u00a32.10 for it these days. Still, it’s hardly likely to break the proverbial bank even in these impoverished times. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n