Cine Meter II vs Lightframer Pro
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Cine Meter II
This app functions as a professional light and color meter for filmmakers. It offers features like a zoomable spotmeter, RGB waveform monitor, and false-color mode to help users precisely control lighting and color in their shots.
- Zoomable spotmeter
- RGB waveform monitor
- False-color mode
- Incident meter with lux/foot-candle
- Color temperature and tint readings
- Shutter angle and speed calculations
- ND filter and exposure compensation
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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.
Lightframer Pro
This app transforms your iPhone into a professional cinema viewfinder, allowing you to preview shots with specific camera and lens combinations. It also features real-time sun tracking to help plan shoots around natural light conditions and exports scout photos with detailed metadata.
- Real-time AR viewfinder
- Camera and lens simulation
- Sun path tracking
- Customizable frame lines
- Metadata export
- Golden hour and blue hour prediction
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Lightframer Pro turns your iPhone into a professional cinema viewfinder with real-time sun tracking. PREVIEW YOUR FRAME Select from a library of cinema cameras and lenses — ARRI, RED, Sony, Canon, Blackmagic, and more. See exactly how your chosen setup frames the shot, right on location. No guesswork. No rental truck needed. TRACK THE SUN Plan your shoot around the light. Lightframer Pro shows the sun's path across the sky in real time — golden hour, blue hour, sunrise, and sunset — overlaid directly on your viewfinder. Know your light before you call "action." FRAME LINES FOR EVERY RATIO Overlay frame lines for any aspect ratio: 2.39:1 anamorphic, 1.85:1 theatrical, 17:9 DCI, 16:9 HD, 4:3 open gate, or set your own custom ratio. See your final deliverable frame while you scout. EXPORT WITH FULL CINEMA DATA Every capture includes a metadata strip with camera, lens, focal length, aspect ratio, sun position, compass heading, and white balance. Share scout photos your entire crew can reference. BUILT FOR CINEMATOGRAPHERS - Real-time AR viewfinder matched to your camera and lens - Sun path with golden hour, blue hour, sunrise, and sunset times - Compass heading overlay - Portrait and landscape modes - Frame line shading and color controls - Photo export with cinema metadata Whether you're a DP scouting a commercial, an indie filmmaker planning your next short, or a director blocking scenes on location — Lightframer Pro gives you the tools to plan every shot with precision.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Lightframer Pro at 4.8 against Cine Meter II's 4.5. Lightframer Pro also leads on price ($19.99 vs $24.99) and review sentiment (100% vs 79%). Cine Meter II's advantage is ratings volume (25 vs 6) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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
Cine Meter II costs $24.99 and Lightframer Pro $19.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Lightframer Pro holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 25 and 6 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of Cine Meter II's written reviews are positive against 100% of Lightframer Pro's.
Cine Meter II ships an update every 3 months, Lightframer Pro every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Cine Meter II | Lightframer Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $24.99 | $19.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.5 (25 ratings) | 4.8 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 79.2% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 25 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 40 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Adam Wilt | eric Hernandez |
Customer experience
Cine Meter II
Lightframer Pro
In-app purchases
Cine Meter II
No in-app purchases
Lightframer Pro
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Cine Meter II free?
Is Lightframer Pro free?
Which has better reviews, Cine Meter II or Lightframer Pro?
Do Cine Meter II or Lightframer Pro have ads?
Which is updated more often, Cine Meter II or Lightframer Pro?
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