DATACOLOR ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
Datacolor’s Lightcolor Meter wins our launch of the year award for its modern take on precision colour and exposure control Colour accuracy made simple
W hen thousands of reflect not just what looks good on paper, but what’s really working on-set. This year, in the hotly contested launch of the year category, the standout winner was a piece of kit that combines old-school requirements with cutting-edge relevance: the Datacolor Lightcolor Meter. For decades, handheld light meters were a non-negotiable of a professional shoot. But with the rise of digital cameras and on-screen monitoring tools, they had gradually disappeared. Datacolor has turned that perception on its head. Its Lightcolor Meter isn’t a nostalgic throwback but a smart, compact and modern device that delivers critical data that digital cameras alone can’t give you. And filmmakers have enthusiastically responded, voting it to the very top of the year’s product launches. filmmakers vote in the Pro Moviemaker Gear of the Year Awards, the results What sets the Lightcolor Meter apart is its dual role: it reads both exposure and colour information, giving users forensic-level control over their lighting environments. Where a camera’s monitor may show you a rough approximation, the Lightcolor Meter reveals exactly what’s happening – the true colour temperature of a fixture, the precise green-magenta shift and how those values interact across multiple sources. This is invaluable on-set: very few productions rely on one single type of light any more. Instead, crews mix daylight with LEDs, HMIs, fluorescents or practicals. And while manufacturers may promise a perfect 5600K daylight balance, the reality is often different and can drift throughout the day or across the lifespan of a fixture. Without accurate measurement, it’s easy
to end up with mismatched hues that no amount of grading in post can fully fix. With the Lightcolor Meter, filmmakers know exactly what they’re working with. But Datacolor hasn’t stopped at measurement. The meter also integrates with filter libraries from Rosco, Lee and Profoto, so it can suggest the precise gels required to correct your light sources. For bi-colour or fixed-temperature lamps, this is an enormous timesaver. You’re no longer guessing which gel might balance a fixture as the meter tells you instantly. The free Lightcolor Meter app is the heart of the system, connecting to the device via Bluetooth. Available on iOS and Android, it supports stills or video workflows, whether you prefer shutter speed and f-stops or shutter angle and T-stops. Stills shooters gain flash metering and sync triggering, making it as valuable for photographers as filmmakers.
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DYNAMIC DUO Armed with the Lightcolor Meter and smartphone, you‘re set to have consistent colour on-set
“The free Lightcolor Meter app forms the heart of the system”
Data can be displayed as straightforward Kelvin and tint readings or colour graphs and chromaticity charts for pro analysis. In practice, this means the Lightcolor Meter is just as at home in a documentary
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