Dr.meter LX1330B Digital Illuminance Light Meter, 0-200,000 Measurement Range Lux Meter, Lighting Intensity Brightness Measurement for Indoor Outdoor, Light Meters for Plants

Very good accuracy, haven’t had it long enough to know how long batteries last but is a good size. Works very well.

I'm a photographer and videographer and shoot in a studio with CFLs in softboxes. I wanted a method of quickly measuring the output of light heads and CFLs. And Dr.Meter seems to be just what the doctor ordered. BUILD quality is good: sturdy plastics, rubberized buttons and a thick rubber bumper. It feels solid and confident in hand. The LCD looks like something from the 1980s (no gray scale or color) and lacks a backlight. The light sensor is under a translucent dome and attached to a coiled cable hardwired to the device. It might be a little too easy to snag the cable on something and damage it. A plug-in/replaceable cable would be preferable. OPERATION: Peel off the rubber bumper, lift off the battery door and install a 9v battery (included). Squeeze the bumper back on and you're ready to rock. Hit power and point the dome at the light source. If it shows "1" on the LCD, that's Dr.Meter speak for "out of range." Press the range button to calibrate to a higher measure value. You have a choice of LUX or FC and can retain/stop metering by pressing the hold button. That's pretty much it. If you plan on comparing or recording a lot of data points, bring a pencil and paper. This is a barebones meter and has no data transmission or memory ability. One thing I learned after metering my lights is manufacturer specs for CFLs are totally whack. In other words, Dr.Meter confirms what my eyes suspected: some 60W bulbs are brighter than 105W bulbs! So I need to balance lights by actual light output and not according to manufacturer specs. The other useful thing about this meter is I can record output of each light head from the subject's position, write it down, and precisely recreate the light balance of the set at a later date. FINAL BLURB: All in a great meter for measuring light levels in studios, offices, stage sets and homes: easy to use, accurate and priced reasonably.

I recently received the Mastech meter to monitor the lighting in my nursery. I found it easy to use although the directions might be a bit improved. For instance, putting in the supplied battery it's necessary to remove the rubber casing. The instructions said to slide off the battery cover in the direction of the arrow but there was no arrow and the cover wouldn't securely fit unless the rubber case was on. It took a little practice to figure out the scales since pushing the range button wasn't simply reflected on the LCD, especially on the lower ranges (afterwords it would show 10x,100x, etc.)It would have been nicer had it shown the actual amount on the readout within a particular range rather than having to multiply it by one of the factors. I should emphasize that the above quibbles are very minor and that the meter performs it's functions very well. The meter is well built and the rubber casing and sensor cover afford it excellent protection. Both the sensor and main unit are light weight and easy to grip. The readings I got were consistent time after time.I think that for the money it's an excellent buy and superior to most others on the market in its price range or even some higher priced ones. I would recommend this meter for anyone who wants a reliable meter that covers a great range and is very affordable.

I find this inexpensive meter extremely useful for assessing lighting conditions at venues where I am taking photographs and videos. That said this is not a photographic exposure or flash meter and unfortunately if you are purchasing it as an inexpensive substitute to use for that purpose you will be disappointed. This meter gives you a simple to understand Lux reading corresponding to the brightness in the room. Our eyes are amazing self adjusting optical miracles... they compensate for conditions so much that we often have a difficult time judging just how light or dark conditions really are. Modern cameras and video cameras have sophisticated reflective light meters built into them and if used in an auto or semi-auto mode they will adjust the images we take for overall brightness. They will also predict whether the exposure will be under or over-exposed in manual as compared to a photo that is an even 18% gray. Very few people use traditional exposure meters these days. The problem for most is that if they try to take pictures or video in dimly lit areas without a flash or other external light source the camera (or you) can try to compensate with very slow shudder speeds, very high iso settings, along with the widest aperture your lens has available. It is decision making time as to how you are going to get your best results. Because of improved camera sensor technology this is less important these days than it once was, but this is still a recipe for pictures and videos that have poor image quality. I use the readings that I get from this light meter to help decide how to set up my equipment and/or adjust the lighting for the most satisfactory video of photo taking environment. One could accomplish the same thing by taking sample pictures and videos (which you most the time one has to do also), but I find the meter to be a time saver for initial decision making. I have a much more sophisticated and much more expensive photographic exposure meter. It is more complicated to set up and is overkill for this purpose most of the time, but this is the type of light meter that most photographers are looking for. This meter does only one thing... it measures the brightness of visible light and gives back a number representing either lux or foot candles. There are free android calculators and also charts that one can quickly convert these numbers into exposure settings, but this is not what this meter was designed to do. For novelty I have checked whether the readings are useful for this purpose and have had mixed results as compared to our actual photographic exposure meter. Since this is not what the meter was designed for you have to make adjustments to the results you get and the reflective meter built into the camera is more accurate. A modern photographic exposure meter has many more options in the way that light can be measured and gives it much more flexibility. The one I have has inputs and attachments for spot metering and flash metering. Of course it also automatically calculates recommended exposure settings. In my opinion this is a great meter and for me it has been a big time saver for assessing and adjusting the lighting conditions at an event where one I have set up video or photographic equipment. But... this is NOT a photographic exposure meter. While both are built up from similar sensors they are not the same tool. This cannot accomplish many of the tasks one purchases an exposure meter for such as setting up flash equipment. If you are trying to fine tune the results you get from your camera this is not going to help much if at all. I hope that is a helpful explanation and also explains why people have felt misled and others have said it is not suitable for photography.

Working properly, I get reasonable readings for the light intensity.

Utile pour mesurer l'éclairage dans les parties communes d'un immeuble ,où des normes d'intensité lumineuses doivent être respectées en fonction de dispositions légales. Instrument utile pour Syndic d'immeuble. J'ai regretté que le mode d'emploi n'explique pas comment mettre les piles: j'ai mis tout un temps avant de comprendre qu'il fallait au préalable retirer la protection périphérique en caoutchouc orange et seulement ensuite dévisser le couvercle du compartiment piles, en partie inférieure du dos de l'appareil.

Practical, easy handling, accurate

perfect for adjusting lighting distance, works on all light types, just be aware that it only measures visible light!!! it doesn't measure light humans can't see (PAR values with UV and IR) most LEDs have IR & UV also so they would not be included in the lux amount the plant actually gets, but still quite useful (would just be a little more lux IE: if aiming for 75k lux. maybe set your LED setup at 65-70k on the meter just to be safe

good product