Mini test: Datacolor LightColor Meter
Posted on Jun 6, 2025 by Pro Moviemaker
Datacolor’s Lightcolor Meter is a compact, Bluetooth-connected tool that brings precise exposure and colour temperature control back into the hands of filmmakers and photographers – no guesswork required
If you’ve been around long enough to remember shooting film for stills or movies, then you’ll recall that a light meter was vital to measure incident light and contrast before every shot. It ensured when the film was developed, it would be exposed right with enough detail in the shadows.
But since the wholesale switch to digital – with its what-you-see-is-what-you-get monitoring – and tools like false colour, histograms, waveforms and flashing highlight warnings, these pro-grade meters have largely disappeared.
Even rarer is a meter that measures colour temperature – nowadays, these tend to be owned only by high-end DOPs who can afford such specialist tools and know how to use them. For the rest of us, matching the colour of light sources is a matter of trust. We rely on what lighting manufacturers claim their fixtures produce, assuming that if we dial in 5600K on the light, it will deliver perfect daylight and match all other sources – even when used with modifiers like softboxes.
But if your lights don’t match in colour, no amount of post work can make them look the same. Once you have tried a colour meter, you’ll realise that many manufacturers’ claims are inaccurate – and adjusting the power of a light often shifts its colour too.
That’s where Datacolor’s new Lightcolor Meter comes in. This small device measures both the brightness of light – so you can set your exposure bang on – and colour temperature. It works with all light sources, from LEDs and tungsten to HMI, fluorescent, flash and daylight.
If natural daylight is flooding onto your set, it likely won’t be exactly 5600K – and even if it is, it will shift during the day. But once you know what it really is, you can set your lights to match if that’s the look you’re after. With the Lightcolor Meter, you’ll know what you’re actually getting.
If your lights are bicolour or daylight only, the Datacolor gizmo also includes filter libraries from Profoto, Lee and Rosco, so it’s easy to select the right colour-correcting gels to achieve the right warmth and green-magenta setting.
The meter runs on two AAA batteries, comes with a magnetic plate to fix to the included small stand, plus it has a standard mount for tripods or light stands. Its measuring dome gives overall exposure and temperature readings and can be recessed.
The meter works with the free Datacolor Lightcolor Meter app – available for iOS and Android – and connects via Bluetooth. It streams its data to the phone, allowing easy remote monitoring.
The app lets users choose photo or video mode, where it’s easy to dial in shutter speed or angle, ISO and T stop or f-stop. For stills with flash, it provides exposure via test flash or triggers a flash with a sync cord.
Being able to measure colour temperature and hue is the real strength of Datacolor’s latest invention. The colour of any ambient light can be displayed as a kelvin reading and +/- green or magenta figure on colour graphs or chromaticity charts for the advanced.
This way, you can accurately measure the colour of all your lights and make them match, rather than trusting what you think you’ve set.
Ideal for multi-light set-ups or mixing artificial and ambient light, it’s great for product or green-screen shoots. It saves post-production time by ensuring accurate exposure and puts you in control of your lighting.
Specifications
- Type: Colour temperature and illuminance meter
- Power: 2x AAA batteries
- Light reading method: Incident
- Light readings: CCT, Delta UV, lux
- Display: None
- Output: 3.5mm jack
- Aperture range: F/0.5-144
- EV range: -1 to 18
- ISO range: 3-409,600
- Shutter speed range: 1/64,000sec to 30secs
- Measuring range: 1-1,000,000 lux
- Colour temperature range: 1600-20,000K
- Wireless: Bluetooth
- Dimensions (wxhxl): 7×3.5x8cm/2.7×1.3×3.1in
- Weight: 49g/0.11lb
Pro Moviemaker rating: 9/10
Accurate colour and exposure every time – and doesn’t cost a lot of cash
- Pros: Small and light, easy to use
- Cons: Another device which requires your phone
This review was first published in the May/June 2025 issue of Pro Moviemaker
