Photon: The DIY Incident Light Meter

Incident Light Meters

An incident light meter is a device used to measure the amount of light falling on a subject. It displays the correct shutter speed and f-number for optimum exposure, given a certain lighting situation and film speed/ISO Number. Incident light meters differ from reflective light meters (the ones built into modern cameras) in that they measure the light falling on a subject, rather than the light reflecting off it. There are times when it’s better to know the incident light reading, so having one in your photography bag is A Good Thing.

Analog Photography

Where incident light meters go from ‘Good To Have’ to ‘Essential’ is Film photography. Many old cameras have no metering tools built-in. If you’ve not tried it, Film photography is definitely worth a go. It isn’t better than digital, but it is different. The pacing, the delayed gratification, and the constraints make it a joy. What’s more, the cameras are really cheap and it lets you channel your inner-hipster.

Video

tl;dr We made a light meter from scratch, called it Photon and shared all the info on how we made it.

It has a mechanical keyboard switch for added satisfaction. We tested it, and made a video about it.

Build Your Own

If you’re keen enough to build your own. All the code etc is available on our GitHub repository, here.