A light meter for motion picture film
Footcandles, T-stops, frame rates, shutter angles, and Kodak Vision3. Cine workflow in your pocket.
Why cine is different from stills
Cinematography measures light differently. Footcandles or lux instead of EV. T-stops instead of f-stops, because the actual light transmitted matters more than the geometric aperture. Frame rate and shutter angle replace shutter speed. And the film stocks are a different catalogue: Kodak Vision3 50D, 250D, 200T, 500T, the 5219 and 7219 cousins, plus Cinestill 800T and 50D adapted for still cameras.
Zone Light Meter has a dedicated cine mode that speaks this language.
The cine workflow
Set the camera's frame rate and shutter angle. The app derives the effective exposure time automatically (24 fps at 172.8 degrees is about 1/50 second). Set the ISO of your stock. Meter your scene in footcandles or lux. The app gives you the T-stop you need.
If you change the frame rate to 48 fps for slow motion, the app automatically doubles the light requirement. If you stop down the shutter angle to 90 degrees, same thing. You see the exposure follow in real time as you decide the shot.
Motion picture stocks
The catalogue includes Kodak Vision3 50D, 250D, 200T, 500T (both 5219 and 7219 variants), and the older Vision2 stocks where relevant. Cinestill 800T and 50D are listed under both still and cine categories since they cross over. Each stock has the correct push and pull ranges and any notes on grain and contrast at non-native ISOs.
Custom stocks for experimental work (re-spooled Kodak 5363 intermediate, Fomapan R100 reversal, etc.) can be added with custom ISO, latitude, and reciprocity behavior.
Color temperature and tungsten balance
Tungsten-balanced stocks like Vision3 500T are made for 3200K light. Shooting them in daylight without correction adds blue. Zone Light Meter has a color temperature meter that reads the scene and tells you the Wratten or LB filter to compensate, plus the exposure cost.
Conversely, for daylight stocks under tungsten, the app recommends an 80A and the corresponding stop loss.
The shot log for cine
Each take stores: scene and take number (if you log them), camera and lens, stock and roll, frame rate, shutter angle, T-stop, color temperature reading, any filtration, and notes. CSV export means a DIT can ingest the log alongside the dailies. The format is editable, so you can map fields to a specific lab's expectations.
FAQ
Can Zone Light Meter calculate footcandles or T-stops?
Yes. The cine mode reads in footcandles and lux, and converts to T-stops if you give it the lens T-rating. The standard ISO + frame rate + shutter angle workflow is built in.
What about varying frame rates and shutter angles?
The app accepts any frame rate (24, 25, 30, 48, 60, custom) and any shutter angle (typically 45 to 180 degrees, with 172.8 for film). Exposure compensation is automatic when you change either.
Does it support the major motion picture film stocks?
Yes. Kodak Vision3 50D, 250D, 200T, 500T, 5219, 7219, and others, plus Cinestill stocks adapted from cine. ISO, reciprocity, and notes per stock.
Can I match shot logs with my DIT?
Export the shot log to CSV including timestamps, scene/take if you log it, frame rate, shutter, T-stop, and notes. The format is editable and Lightroom-compatible for stills DIs that work in still pipelines.
Read more
Browse the cine and motion picture section of the documentation.
Cine mode documentation