Very Accurate, HSS Flash Capabilities & New Features
Review by Erik Vlietinck
The IM150 Wireless Light and Color Meter uses Bluetooth to deliver exposure information to your smartphone, and it has impressive specs: for example, its exposure measuring range starts at 1 and ends at 1million lux (–1EV to 18EV); ISO from 3–409,600; and a shutter speed of 1/64,000–30 sec. Its color temperature range measurements are from 1,600K–20,000K.
The IM150 light meters are very accurate: Color error is +/-75K for most light sources in the range of 2,500K–7,000K. The luminance accuracy is 5% both ways. The device can handle an aperture of f/0.5–f/144 and a shutter angle of 1–358 at frame rates of 1–1,000 fps (video/film).
The meter comes with all the features that you’d expect in a more expensive meter, including the ability to trigger strobes from your smartphone or tablet. New features are HSS (high-speed sync) flash measuring, a color balance screen, and an upgraded list of color gels (Rosco Cine gel and GamColor, and Lee gels) in the color temperature screen.
HSS flash measuring is a godsend. It was sorely lacking from the first versions of the iOS app, but now it’s implemented in the best way I can think of. You turn on the Monitor Flash switch and select HSS mode. The app turns it on, but will not activate it unless you’ve found a combination of strobe speed and f-number that is, in fact, HSS.
The best new feature is the color balance screen. Here you’ll see an RGB readout of the light thrown on the light meter, showing how much the light differs from the standard illuminant you’ve selected for each color channel independently. It also gives you an option to measure a light, then turn to another one and measure how much that second light differs from the first. With video and photo lights that allow you to tune each color channel (as many do these days), you can actually match lights accurately with this feature. ■
