Light Meter vs Darkroom Companion
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side ā with what reviewers say about each.
Light Meter
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Light Meter helps you measure exposure in real time and find the right camera settings faster. Designed for photographers and filmmakers, the app turns your iPhone into a practical exposure meter for everyday shoots, studio work, portraits, landscapes, and low-light scenes. Quickly read the light in front of you, lock the settings you want to keep fixed, and let the app calculate the missing exposure value automatically. Whether you are shooting with a digital camera, film camera, cinema camera, or manual lens, Light Meter helps you work with more confidence before you press the shutter. ⢠Live Exposure Reading Measure light in real time and instantly calculate camera-ready exposure settings. ⢠Lock Any Two Controls Choose which two settings stay fixed - ISO, shutter speed, or aperture - and let the meter calculate the third automatically. ⢠Shutter Priority Freeze motion or create blur while the app calculates the right aperture. ⢠Aperture Priority Set your depth of field and let the meter solve the matching shutter speed. ⢠Auto ISO Keep shutter speed and aperture fixed while the meter adjusts ISO automatically. ⢠Spot Metering Tap the preview to meter a specific part of the scene with more precision. ⢠Built for Real Shoots Use it for portraits, landscapes, studio lighting, street photography, film photography, and video exposure planning. Light Meter gives you a fast, visual way to understand exposure before shooting. It is especially useful when working with manual cameras, adapting to changing light, checking mixed scenes, or planning a consistent exposure setup. Simple enough for beginners, precise enough for advanced photographers. Terms of Use: https://www.optionalchaining.com/terms-of-use Privacy Policy: https://www.optionalchaining.com/privacy-policy
Darkroom Companion
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Free film developing times and a multi-step darkroom timer for black-and-white film. Built-in development chart for common film and developer combinations, dilution calculator, reciprocity calculator and a red night mode. No subscription, no ads. Whether you are developing your first roll or your thousandth, it keeps the whole process in one place. FREE ā NO SUBSCRIPTION, NO ADS ⢠Multi-step timer ā developer, stop bath, fixer, wash, wetting agent ā with sound and haptic agitation cues ⢠Night (red) mode that preserves your dark adaptation ⢠Development time calculator for bath temperature and push/pull (± stops) ⢠Built-in database of times for common film and developer combinations ⢠Dilution calculator ā how much concentrate, how much water ⢠Celsius or Fahrenheit, whichever you think in ⢠Reciprocity calculator for long exposures ⢠One custom recipe and the last three developments in the log DARKROOM PRO ā one-time unlock, no subscription ⢠Unlimited custom recipes and custom process steps ⢠Chemistry log ā tracks expiry and exhaustion, warns you before you pour dead fixer ⢠Unlimited development history ⢠Data export and import Times are indicative. Verify them against the manufacturer datasheet before real use ā the app reminds you as well. PRIVACY The app collects only anonymous usage statistics ā which screens are opened and which features are used ā so it can be improved. It does not send your recipes, log, notes or anything else you type into it, and it uses no advertising identifiers.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is device support: Darkroom Companion at 3 against Light Meter's 1. Darkroom Companion also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Light Meter | Darkroom Companion |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | ā | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod ā better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 15.0 ā better |
| Further details ā not scored | ||
| Size | 44 MB | 29 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Patrick Battisti Forsthofer | Stanislav Grunfeld |
In-app purchases
Light Meter
No in-app purchases
Darkroom Companion
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Light Meter free?
Is Darkroom Companion free?
Do Light Meter or Darkroom Companion have ads?
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