Light meter apps for filmmakers, by job

Reflected or incident: the question that decides it

Every light meter answers one of two questions. A reflected meter reads the light bouncing off the scene toward the lens, which is what a camera sees. An incident meter reads the light falling on the subject, through a white dome, before it bounces off anything. The difference matters because a reflected reading assumes the scene is middle gray. Point it at a white wall and it reads too bright; point it at a dark room and it reads too dark. An incident reading does not care what color the subject is, which is why cinematographers have carried incident meters for decades.

A phone camera on its own is a reflected meter. Put a diffuser over the front camera and some apps can approximate an incident reading: Cine Meter II and Light Meter LM-3000 both do this. Cutvey Meter does not. Its lux figure is worked out from the camera's exposure, assuming an 18% gray surface, so it is close on a gray card filling the frame and an estimate anywhere else.

The apps, by job

Prices and devices from each seller's own page, checked November 2, 2026: the US App Store for the apps and sekonic.com for the meter. CineMeter Pro's store page lists "CineMeter Pro $19.99" and "Lifetime $39.99" without the period beside the first.

Pick by job

Setting exposure for a cine camera

Cine Meter II. A waveform and false color on a phone are the closest thing to reading the monitor before the camera is built, and its spot meter and incident mode cover the rest. CineMeter Pro has waveform and false color too, on a subscription or a lifetime price; it arrived in October 2026, so it has little track record yet.

Lighting ratios and light levels

An incident reading. A handheld meter such as the L-858D-U is the reliable tool; on a phone, Cine Meter II or LM-3000 with a diffuser gets you close. For surveying a location's light levels for a lighting plan, LM-3000 is built for it.

The color of the light and the gel to match

Cutvey Meter. It reads kelvin and tint from the camera's white balance or a gray card, names the CTO or CTB in LEE or Rosco numbers, at most two sheets, and shows MATCH when two lights are within 5 mired. Every reading says how far to trust it, and the gel answer comes from the same search as our free gel calculator.

ND, flicker and the sun

Cutvey Meter again. Set your rig once and the ND stays on screen as the light changes; the meter warns when it sees a light band and names a flicker-safe shutter; the sun screen draws the day's path over the live view. ColourTemp is the specialist if flicker is your main worry: its listing describes a dedicated test at 240 frames a second.

Stills and film photography

myLightMeter PRO, for incident and reflected exposure with sessions you can sync. For flash, a handheld meter.

A worked example: a day exterior at noon

A beach interview in full sun, shooting 24 fps at 180° on a camera at ISO 800, lens at f/2.8. Full sun is about EV 15. Your settings sit 9.4 stops under that, which is past ND 2.1, the strongest single filter, so you would need a stack. Drop to ISO 200 and you need 7.4 stops: ND 2.1, with 0.4 of a stop left over to close down or leave. Cutvey Meter keeps that answer on screen and solves it again as clouds pass. A reflected reading off the bright sand would read high, which is exactly when an incident reading on the face, from a handheld meter or a phone with a diffuser, is the one to trust for exposure.

Now the color. The sun on the face reads near daylight, the bounce adds a little warmth, and an LED fill through diffusion may sit somewhere else. Pin the sun with REF, point at the LED, and the gel to match is named on the card. That part no incident meter does.

Where Cutvey Meter fits

We built Cutvey Meter for the light questions a DP or gaffer answers all day: what color is this light, what do I put on it, what ND do I need, will this shutter flicker, and when is the light right. It answers them in one app on the phone already in your pocket, with an Apple Watch app, for $19.99 once. It is no incident or flash meter, it has no waveform, and its lux is an estimate. If exposure is your whole job, start with Cine Meter II or a handheld meter, and keep Cutvey Meter for the color and the sun.

How we checked

Every price and device comes from the seller's own page on November 2, 2026: the US App Store for apps and sekonic.com for the meter. What each app does comes from its own listing and site. We left out star ratings, which move every week, and every claim about accuracy, our own included.