Light Meter App Works for Pinhole Cameras Too!

I generally use the meters in my cameras for determining the proper exposure settings. When shooting cameras without working on-board light meters I simply use one of my other cameras (with a working meter) to determine the correct exposure.

When I started shooting pinhole cameras (which do not have light meters) I continued to simply use another camera for metering, generally my Pentax K-1 mirrorless digital. Once the correct exposure settings were determined for the K-1, I used one of the Pinhole Camera Exposure Guides from MrPinhole.Com’s web site calculated and printed out specifically for the pinhole camera I happened to be using at the time.

For the first couple of rolls of film I bracketed every exposure but quickly realized that my method combined with the exposure guide from MrPinhole.Com was right on the mark every time. I can honestly say now that I have shot several rolls of film in three different pinhole cameras that all of my exposures have been technically perfect. Sometimes the composition is not what I hoped for but the exposures have been “right on” and I simply don’t bracket anymore.

As good as that is, I am always looking for better, faster, cheaper – you know the drill! So when I realized that there was an App for my Android smart phone that included a range of apertures from f1 to f2000 that claimed to work for pinholes as well as traditional cameras of all types I immediately checked it out.

Light Meter Tools by WBPhoto is a handy little app that appears to be exactly what it claims to be. I tested it against my way of determining exposures for my pinhole cameras and it was right on target but one stop off, every time. There is a handy provision to adjust the EV value to compensate for this and I have so I guess from now on I can leave the other camera and the exposure guide behind.

Lets face it, as much as I really enjoy pinhole photography, compared to more traditional photography, especially digital photography it’s a lot of work. Anything I can do to make pinhole photography simpler and easier means I will be that much more willing to do it and do it more often. This app does just that.

It may not seem like a big deal but with the pinhole camera, tripod, clipboard, notebook, pencil or pen in hand; being able to leave the extra camera behind (my cell phone is always on my belt anyway) is a great help.