Zone Light Meter and myLightMeter Pro

Two well-regarded meter apps from different angles. They are good at different things.

About myLightMeter Pro

myLightMeter Pro is an iOS light meter app by David Quiles, with a polished traditional meter interface and a long track record on the App Store. For its current pricing, features, and platform support, see the App Store listing. This page does not describe myLightMeter Pro's capabilities; we focus on Zone Light Meter so you can decide which fits how you shoot.

What Zone Light Meter offers

The Zone System is the workflow

Zone Light Meter is built around Ansel Adams's zone scale. You can spot-meter a tone, place it on a specific zone, and the app shows where every other tone in the scene lands on the 0 to 10 scale. Multi-spot biasing lets you weight a face above background or a highlight above shadow on slide film.

Multi-spot metering with bias

Three or more spot readings, weighted by importance, averaged into a single exposure recommendation. This is the workflow studio and portrait photographers use when one reading is not enough.

Analogue corrections without manual math

Reciprocity failure runs from a per-stock curve. Bellows extension is a dedicated setting for large format. IR filter factors apply automatically. Expired film gets a per-year or custom ISO offset. Each correction folds into the metered exposure rather than asking you to compute and apply an offset by hand.

A 693-stock film catalogue across 70+ brands

Cinema, discontinued classics, Soviet and Eastern-European stocks, boutique rebranders, and instant film ship pre-loaded with reciprocity curves, push and pull development times, and notes. You can clone a stock to make your own custom profile. Profiles are stable across updates.

Shot log that earns its keep

Every frame stores gear, film, metering choices, notes, optional geolocation, and a timestamp. The log is searchable and filterable, and exports to CSV with a Lightroom-ready metadata preset so the scans match the frames unambiguously when they come back.

No ads, no subscription, no tracking

Free on Android. No advertising SDKs, no analytics SDKs, no account. The full feature set is in the free build.

Choose Zone Light Meter if

You shoot Android today, or you can wait for the iOS port
You work with the Zone System, large format, slide film, or expired stock
You want every analogue correction handled for you in the metering pipeline
You log your rolls and want CSV export to Lightroom
You want a teach-as-you-shoot app with plain-language help on every modal

Another tool might suit you better if

You need a meter on iOS today (Zone Light Meter iOS is in development)
You prefer a minimal, dial-based interface to a feature-rich one
You meter mostly in normal light and do not need the Zone System or long-exposure corrections

FAQ

How does Zone Light Meter handle the Zone System?

Zone Light Meter is built around the Zone System as a first-class workflow. Spot a tone, place it on a specific zone, and the app shows where every other tone in the scene falls on the 0 to 10 scale. Multi-spot biasing lets you weight a face above background or a highlight above shadow.

How deep is the film stock library in Zone Light Meter?

693 stocks across 70+ brands, pre-loaded with reciprocity curves, push and pull development times, and notes. Includes cinema, discontinued classics, Soviet and Eastern-European stocks, boutique 2020s rebranders, and instant film. You can clone a stock to make your own custom profile.

Can I use Zone Light Meter on iOS?

Not yet. Zone Light Meter is Android-native today with an iOS port in development. If you need a meter on iOS this week, the Android-only constraint is a hard one.

What about reciprocity, bellows, IR filters, and expired film?

All four are first-class corrections in the metering pipeline. Reciprocity runs from a per-stock curve. Bellows extension is a dedicated setting for large format. IR filter factors apply automatically when you select a Wratten 87 or similar filter. Expired film gets a per-year or custom ISO offset.

How accurate is the metering?

Phone-camera meters are constrained by the phone's sensor. Out of the box most phones land within about a stop. After a one-time calibration against a grey card or known reference, Zone Light Meter typically reaches about a third of a stop, which is the same tolerance as a serious film camera's built-in meter.

Try Zone Light Meter

Free on Android, no ads, no account, works offline.

See the full feature list

Last reviewed 2026-06-04. This page describes Zone Light Meter's own features. For myLightMeter Pro's current pricing, platform support, and capabilities, see David Quiles' App Store listing linked above. Other developers' apps evolve continuously; we do not maintain a feature-level comparison.