Comparison

Cine Meter II vs Minimal Light Meter

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Cine Meter II

This app functions as a professional light and color meter for cinematographers. It offers zoomable spot metering, RGB waveform monitoring, and false-color capabilities to analyze and adjust lighting for optimal shots. It also provides calculations for exposure settings like shutter speed and aperture.

Highlights
  • Zoomable spotmeter
  • RGB waveform monitor
  • False-color mode
  • Incident meter with lux/foot-candle
  • Color temperature and tint readings
  • Exposure calculation (shutter speed, aperture, ND, ISO)
  • Shutter angle support
Features
Read full description

Cine Meter II measures light and color, so you can light and shoot and know what you'll get. “Cine Meter II is an essential app for every cinematographer.” — Jon Fauer, ASC “[T]he perfect app to have with you at all times.” — Roberto “Ganzo” Schaefer, ASC, AIC It's a zoomable spotmeter with an RGB waveform monitor and a false-color picture. It's an incident meter using a Lenny Hat or other diffusion, or Lumu™ Lite attachment, with lux and foot-candle readouts. (Lumu Power is NOT supported, and flash metering is NOT possible.) It's a color meter, showing color temperature and green/magenta tint, and giving you corrections to or from your target color. Measure more than just shutter-priority or aperture-priority: calculate shutter speed, shutter angle, aperture, ND, or ISO directly. • The exposure meter shows your stop as a decimal value (for cameras with EVF iris readouts) or as a full stop and fraction (for cine lenses with marked iris rings). Cine Meter II lets you use shutter angles – ideal for Digital Bolex and Blackmagic cameras – as well as speeds, and you can dial in ND filters and arbitrary exposure compensations. The spotmeter is zoomable up to 15x magnification (on devices that support camera zooming), using either the front or back camera. • The waveform monitor shows you how light levels vary across a scene. You'll see how smooth and even the lighting is on a greenscreen or background, and find subtle hotspots and shadows at a glance. The waveform’s RGB mode shows you color imbalances in the image and gives you a handy way to check color purity and separation for chroma-keying. • False-color mode lets you define allowable contrast ranges, and see instantly which shadows are underexposed and what highlights risk clipping. _______________________ READ BEFORE YOU BUY: Cine Meter II is NOT a flash meter; it can't measure strobes. Cine Meter II does NOT work with Lumu Power (the Lightning port Lumu), only Lumu Lite (the headphone jack Lumu). Cine Meter II gives you *absolute* light meter readings, but *relative* picture and waveform monitor levels: Cine Meter II’s picture and waveform monitor do not use the *exact* exposure shown by the light meter (they are close to the meter reading, but can differ from it slightly). The picture and waveform monitor show you *relative* levels within a scene, not *absolute* levels based on the meter reading. Shutter speeds, apertures, and ISOs shown in Cine Meter II are for metering purposes only and do not control the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO of the iPhone camera. The iPhone camera uses whatever exposure settings it needs to capture a reading. Cine Meter II is a light and color meter only; it is *not* a camera simulator. See http://www.adamwilt.com/cinemeterii/details.html#How_It_Works for details.

About

Minimal Light Meter

This app provides film photographers with precise exposure readings using their iPhone camera. It allows for locking aperture or shutter speed and supports custom ISO settings for various film types. The interface is designed for clarity and ease of use in any lighting condition.

Highlights
  • Reflective light metering
  • Aperture or shutter priority
  • Custom ISO settings
  • Dimmed camera preview
  • High-contrast text
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

A focused light meter for film photographers who want exposure details without the clutter. Point your iPhone at the scene, lock aperture or shutter, and get a clear reading you can trust on set or in the field. Dim the live preview when you need the numbers, not the viewfinder, and set any ISO, including odd ratings for old or expired stock. Features • Reflective light metering with your iPhone camera • Aperture or shutter priority. Lock one, meter for the other • Dim the camera preview to keep attention on exposure • Fully custom ISO, including non-standard film ratings • Add or hide shutter speeds and f-stops to match your kit • High-contrast text for bright outdoor shooting • Fast, minimal interface with no accounts or ads • Works offline, on device Built for analog shooters, Instant film, and anyone who still dials exposure by hand.

Screenshots

Cine Meter II4 screens
Minimal Light Meter4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Minimal Light Meter at $0.99 against Cine Meter II's $24.99. Minimal Light Meter also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (100% vs 79%). Cine Meter II's advantage is update cadence (every 3 months vs every 14 months) and ratings volume (25 vs 2). On ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Cine Meter II costs $24.99 and Minimal Light Meter $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Minimal Light Meter holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cine Meter II has 25 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of Cine Meter II's written reviews are positive against 100% of Minimal Light Meter's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Cine Meter II ships an update every 3 months, Minimal Light Meter every 14 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Cine Meter II versus Minimal Light Meter: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCine Meter IIMinimal Light Meter
Price$24.99$0.99 — better
Rating4.5 (25 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews79.2% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings25 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 14 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#143 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdam WiltJack Kroll

Customer experience

Cine Meter II

All ratings25 ratings
Positive84.0%
Neutral8.0%
Negative8.0%
Written reviews24 reviews
Positive79.2%
Neutral4.2%
Negative16.7%

Minimal Light Meter

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Cine Meter II

No in-app purchases

None

Minimal Light Meter

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Cine Meter II free?
Cine Meter II costs $24.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Minimal Light Meter free?
Minimal Light Meter costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Cine Meter II or Minimal Light Meter?
Minimal Light Meter is rated higher. Cine Meter II averages 4.5 out of 5 from 25 ratings, while Minimal Light Meter averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Cine Meter II or Minimal Light Meter have ads?
Neither Cine Meter II nor Minimal Light Meter shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Cine Meter II or Minimal Light Meter?
Cine Meter II ships an update every 3 months, and Minimal Light Meter every 14 months. Most recently, Cine Meter II was updated on November 6, 2026 and Minimal Light Meter on November 4, 2026.

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