Lumulabs, the folks behind the Lumu plug-in incident light meter for iOS and Android (reviewed here) have just launched a Kickstarter project for Lumu Power: a combination incident light / color temperature / flash meter. Lumu Power will plug into the Lightning connector on any modern iPhone / iPad / iPod touch running iOS 8 or later. It’s estimated to cost US$300 and ship in mid-2016, assuming it gets funded and things go according to plan. [Update: they reached their funding target in less than 3 hours.]
Lumulabs, the folks behind the Lumu plug-in incident light meter for iOS and Android (reviewed here) have just launched a Kickstarter project for Lumu Power: a combination incident light / color temperature / flash meter. Lumu Power will plug into the Lightning connector on any modern iPhone / iPad / iPod touch running iOS 8 or later. It’s estimated to cost US$300 and ship in mid-2016, assuming it gets funded [update: it did] and things go according to plan.
To the best of my knowledge, there is no combo incident/color/flashmeter available that comes close to the price; Lumu Power will work on a $200 iPod touch 6G, or an even cheaper 5G while they’re still available refurbished, for a total cost of $500 if you don’t already have a Lightning-equipped iDevice. And to the best of my knowledge, there is no other flashmeter at all that works on an iOS or Android device.
The original Lumu Kickstarter was oversubscribed 12x and the Lumu did indeed ship. Lumu Power has been under development for the past two years and Lumulabs is asking for a mere $30,000 to launch it [update: they passed their $30,000 target in less than three hours]. There are no sure things in Kickstarter-land, but these people have a track record of success and the hard-won experience of having shipped a working product. If you’re interested, here’s the Kickstarter page.
Preliminary specs:
Exposure
- Measuring range: EV -4 to 20 at ISO 100
- Accuracy: +/- 0.1 EV
- Light receptor: fast-response Silicon photo diode, CIE spectral luminous efficiency
- Hemispherical Diffuser, Cardioid-type responses
Color (Temperature)
- Light receptor: True Color Sensor, CIE 1931 Color standard Human eye perception
- Sensitivity: Visible light
- Dynamic range: 1:1,000,000
- Accuracy: < 0.6 deltaE, Repeatability: < 0.2 deltaE
- Flat Diffuser, Cosine-type response
Illuminance
- Measuring range: 0.15 – 250,000 lux
- Accuracy: +/- 3%
- Flat Diffuser, Cosine-type response
Other
- Power source: iOS device
- Materials: Housing: Stainless Steel, Diffusers: Polycarbonate Lexan
- Compatibility: iOS devices using Lightning connector, running iOS 8+
Photos from the Lumu Power press kit, used with permission:
Lumu Power’s sensor modules
Disclosure: I sell a competing / complementary app, Cine Meter II, which works with the original Lumu for incident light readings. Lumulabs sent me a Lumu for development purposes a couple of years ago. I don’t yet know if Lumulabs will offer an SDK to allow third parties to support Lumu Power; as a lighting geek I’m excited to see Lumu Power regardless of whether or not I’ll be able to support it in my app. Lumulabs supplied me with the press kit for Lumu Power but has not provided any payments or other compensation for posting this article.