Lumu Power Review: Color and Light Meter for your iPhone

Lumulabs have sent us Lumu Power, their revolutionary color and light meter. We have been faithfully using their very successful first generation light meter - Lumu Light Meter or Lumu Lite - so we were dying to test it out.



Lumu Power is full of new features that will meet and even exceed the expectations and needs of both photographers and filmmakers.

In appearance, Lumu Power differs from the previous version in two aspects:

- It is larger in size. Although it is somewhat larger, it is still extremely small compared to traditional light meters You can actually just put it in your pocket;

- The new lightning connector, which makes Lumu Power compatible with the latest versions of iPhones and iPads.

To give Lumu Power a test run we decided to take advantage of our trip to Paris and check all of its possibilities on-site. We were more than satisfied with the results.


The most striking thing about Lumu Power is that it is no longer just a light meter. It now transforms your iOS device into a professional color meter too. No more mistakes! No more orange videos!

As Lumulabs, the developers and manufacturers of the device, explain, Lumu Power has two sides:

The Flat Side measures Illuminance, Color Temperature and Chromaticity with a state-of-the art True Color sensor based on the color standard CIE 1931/DIN 5033. I can truly say this is an awesome feature;


The Dome Side does not only measure Ambient exposure, but it now also measures Flash Exposure. This information tells you how much the light from your flash unit contributes to the total exposure. You can read more about how it works here: support.lu.mu/hc/en-us/articles/115003890409-What-does-FLASH-mean-in-PHOTO-FLASH-mode-

Here is a brief overview of the functionalities to start you exploring:

1) “Home Screen” (where all the different Modes are listed)


- The Gear icon in the top left corner takes you to the app's “General Settings”. Here you can:

- see the info about your Lumu Power, additionally calibrate it or factory restore it;

- customize which Modes are visible on the Home Screen;

- turn off “Auto app open” (= pop-up message when your Lumu Power is inserted into the iPhone);

- set app to Dark Theme;

- set measuring button to “CONTINUOUS MEASURING” in all Modes. The measuring button function will change from “hold to measure” to tap to START/STOP measuring.

- The Pencil icon in the bottom right corner: takes you to all the saved measurements.


2) On each Mode Screen:

- On top of the screen, you can see a small pictogram - it tells you which side of the Lumu Power is measuring in this specific mode;

- With the top right icon you access Mode-specific Settings;

- With the bottom right Pencil icon you save the last measurement.


3) ILLUMINANCE Mode

- AVG icon in the bottom left corner will plot the graph of the measurement and calculate average illuminance in real time. For this option to be visible, you have to set “CONTINUOUS MEASURING” to ON in the app's General Settings.


4) PHOTO AMBIENT Mode

- You have to tap on the photo parameter (APERTURE / EXPOSURE / ISO) to choose and measure it. The remaining two parameters are locked and you can adjust their values by swiping them left-right or tapping on the < > arrows;

- The bottom left icon gives you the option to set exposure or filters compensation if you use them;

- The drop down menu on the top of the screen reveals additional “MULTI” and “PINHOLE” submodes.



5) PHOTO FLASH Mode

- You operate it similarly to the PHOTO AMBIENT Mode.

Portrait for a personal project

- After you measure a flash, you can adjust parameter values with swiping. The app will automatically recalculate all displayed parameters.


6) PHOTO SPOT METERING Mode

- Uses iPhone’s camera only, no need for Lumu Power hardware;

- You select and adjust photo parameters the same as in the PHOTO AMBIENT Mode.


7) CINE/VIDEO Mode

- In this Mode, you always measure APERTURE;

- Tap on FPS or EXPOSURE to manually insert the values and swipe ISO to set its value.


8) COLOR TEMPERATURE Mode

- Currently showing GREEN/MAGENTA shift in a standard colorimetric scale. Additional options to display it in Adobe or other standards will be added with future app updates;

- Drop down menu on top of the screen reveals the “FILTERS” submode, where you can measure a color difference of two different lights.


9) CHROMATICITY Mode

- Currently only showing reading in CIE 1931 color space, more options will be added in the future app updates.



CONCLUSIONS:

After testing it out we can say we love Lumu Power! I was already pretty confident because I have been using Lumu Lite - their first generation light meter - for years without any problems (now, I just use it with an old iPhone). We love it because the new features of Lumu Power are incredibly useful, not only if you are a photographer, but even more so if you are a one-man film crew. You just plug your Lumu Power into your iPhone, take a measurement, set your camera and you’re good to go. It’s quick and easy.
 


I am a big fan of film cameras. I have 35mm, medium format and large format cameras. Consequently, an accurate light meter is something that I absolutely need to get the correct exposure and Lumu Power is the perfect choice.

I also have a pinhole camera, the Obscura by Ilford, and with the new Lumu Light Meter app for iOS and its specific Pinhole mode I can calculate long exposures without any problems. It makes Lumu Power the best companion for all kinds of filmmakers and photographers.

Portrait with a 4x5 camera and Lumu

Portraits, however, are my main passion. For my personal projects I did not use to use a light meter in the past. I took a test shot and adjusted the camera after seeing the results. It was a time-consuming process and the final photos were not always as perfect as I would have liked them to be. But now, with the help of Lumu Power’s photo flash mode, I can get a perfect measurement and adjust my camera accordingly.



And for filmmakers - wow, no more colour balance mistakes or fumbling around, using grey cards! With Lumu Power everything is fast and easy, even when you have to correct the magentas or greens.

I 100% recommend Lumu Power! It is accurate, simple to use and it is always in my bag or in my pocket.

More information about Lumu Power on www.lu.mu

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