GrayZone - Light Meter

Name: GrayZone - Light Meter
Price: 2.99 USD
Rating: 2.8 (5 reviews)
Author: Massimiliano Schenetti

Zone System Spot Light Meter

Only for iPhone

$2.99

5 Ratings
Age Rating

4+
Years
Category

Photo & Video
Developer

Massimiliano Schenetti
Language

EN
English
Size

3.2
MB

iPhone

Measure light. Choose where to expose. Control your image. Spot meter for film and digital photography. Simplified Zone System mode for precise, intentional exposure. GrayZone reads light where you decide — not where your camera guesses. Built by Max of max&douglas — professional photographer with 25 years in editorial and advertising photography. Zone System Mode Measure a reference area first (Zone V), then check where the other tones will fall and their relative EV difference, for precise and consistent exposure. Real SPOT Metering Reads light exclusively in the area you select. Ideal for portraits, complex lighting and critical situations. Calibrated to render the selected area as neutral gray. Direct Exposure Control Set ISO before metering, like a dedicated light meter. Instant precise combinations of shutter speed and aperture. Exposure lock with AE LOCK. Half-stop support for finer control. MANUAL mode with over/underexposure scale. Essential Interface Live preview in your sensor's native ratio. NEW UI color inversion Shows only what you need. Nothing else. Complete Privacy No ads. No photos saved. No data collected or transmitted. For manual shooters — on film or digital. It does not replace your camera. It works alongside it.

Ratings & Reviews

2.8

out of 5

5 Ratings

Could be better.
Aug 24
Gitarzan1954
I like the idea of taking readings of different areas. But why not display the average of all? It needs work.

Developer Response
The purpose of this feature is not to average different readings, but to compare different areas of the scene against the initial Zone V reference. Averaging them would actually defeat the purpose of the Zone System approach. The readings are intentionally kept separate so you can decide how each area should be exposed.
Could be better.
Aug 24
Gitarzan1954

I like the idea of taking readings of different areas. But why not display the average of all? It needs work.
Developer Response Aug 26
The purpose of this feature is not to average different readings, but to compare different areas of the scene against the initial Zone V reference. Averaging them would actually defeat the purpose of the Zone System approach. The readings are intentionally kept separate so you can decide how each area should be exposed.
Thank you for creating such a useful app.
Aug 29
eDUB69
This app is amazing. I honestly do not understand the low ratings or why more people do not recognize how useful this app can be, especially for photographers who understand the Zone System.For someone who does not want to carry a dedicated spot meter around but always has a smartphone with them, this is an excellent substitute. It is also a fantastic tool for “visualization” how a scene might translate into black & white. Since we naturally see the world in color, it can sometimes be difficult to immediately recognize where different zones will fall within the Zone System. This app makes that process so much easier and much more intuitive.Great job developing this. I am genuinely glad someone created an app like this, and in my opinion, it is worth every penny.I also really appreciate that you chose not to make it subscription-based. Please keep it that way. Stay small, stay humble, and continue making great products. I will gladly support and recommend it to others.By the way, I am a professor in the field of photography, and I would absolutely recommend this app to my students as a practical tool for learning and applying the Zone System.

Developer Response
Thank you so much for such a detailed and positive feedback. Unfortunately many users rate the app based on how they would like it to work, not the way it was intended but there is nothing I can do about it. Cheers!
Thank you for creating such a useful app.
Aug 29
eDUB69

This app is amazing. I honestly do not understand the low ratings or why more people do not recognize how useful this app can be, especially for photographers who understand the Zone System.For someone who does not want to carry a dedicated spot meter around but always has a smartphone with them, this is an excellent substitute. It is also a fantastic tool for “visualization” how a scene might translate into black & white. Since we naturally see the world in color, it can sometimes be difficult to immediately recognize where different zones will fall within the Zone System. This app makes that process so much easier and much more intuitive.Great job developing this. I am genuinely glad someone created an app like this, and in my opinion, it is worth every penny.I also really appreciate that you chose not to make it subscription-based. Please keep it that way. Stay small, stay humble, and continue making great products. I will gladly support and recommend it to others.By the way, I am a professor in the field of photography, and I would absolutely recommend this app to my students as a practical tool for learning and applying the Zone System.
Developer Response Aug 30
Thank you so much for such a detailed and positive feedback. Unfortunately many users rate the app based on how they would like it to work, not the way it was intended but there is nothing I can do about it. Cheers!
Not really the “Zone System”
Jul 23
Fuji_Kon
Maybe this app can be more useful with future revisions. For now it seems the most value is for determining the number of stops between dark and light to stay within the dynamic range of your selected film. To use the zone system effectively one needs to be able to measure the value (EV) of the brightest highlight, or the darkest shadow where details are to be retained, and to place that on a desired zone (e.g. zone VII/VIII for highlights, or zone VII/VIII for shadows). Then with your ISO set, use the corresponding shutter speed and aperture associated with the selected zone. This app just makes whatever you measure zone V and subsequent measurements are based off of that. That means that in order to effectively place everything in the scene in the proper zone you would have to always point the spot meter at something that’s actually neutral gray (zone V). Without the ability to read EV, place it on the desired zone and then select your desired shutter speed and aperture combination, this app has little value.

Developer Response
Thank you for your thoughtful feedback.I think the key difference is that GrayZone was never intended to replicate the whole workflow of Ansel Adams. It was designed as a simplified introduction to zone-based metering, making the Zone System easier to understand and apply without requiring users to work directly with EV values and manual zone placement.If you’re looking for the complete traditional workflow (reading EV, assigning zones, and calculating exposure from those values) then you’re describing a different type of application. That certainly has value, but it goes beyond the scope and philosophy of GrayZone.I do appreciate your suggestion, though, and I’ll keep it in mind as the app evolves.UPDATE: version 3.5 is now moving exactly in that direction ;)
Not really the “Zone System”
Jul 23
Fuji_Kon

Maybe this app can be more useful with future revisions. For now it seems the most value is for determining the number of stops between dark and light to stay within the dynamic range of your selected film. To use the zone system effectively one needs to be able to measure the value (EV) of the brightest highlight, or the darkest shadow where details are to be retained, and to place that on a desired zone (e.g. zone VII/VIII for highlights, or zone VII/VIII for shadows). Then with your ISO set, use the corresponding shutter speed and aperture associated with the selected zone. This app just makes whatever you measure zone V and subsequent measurements are based off of that. That means that in order to effectively place everything in the scene in the proper zone you would have to always point the spot meter at something that’s actually neutral gray (zone V). Without the ability to read EV, place it on the desired zone and then select your desired shutter speed and aperture combination, this app has little value.
Developer Response Sep 18
Thank you for your thoughtful feedback.I think the key difference is that GrayZone was never intended to replicate the whole workflow of Ansel Adams. It was designed as a simplified introduction to zone-based metering, making the Zone System easier to understand and apply without requiring users to work directly with EV values and manual zone placement.If you’re looking for the complete traditional workflow (reading EV, assigning zones, and calculating exposure from those values) then you’re describing a different type of application. That certainly has value, but it goes beyond the scope and philosophy of GrayZone.I do appreciate your suggestion, though, and I’ll keep it in mind as the app evolves.UPDATE: version 3.5 is now moving exactly in that direction ;)
No placement of reference reading.
Jul 21
Deardorff 8x10
I don’t get it, for zone system controls one needs to read an important shadow and then place it on the zone scale. For this example point at a shadow which becomes the reference or zone V. Unless I am missing something I can’t find a way to place the reference reading at say zone III. Without being able to place a shadow reading at say zone III then any other readings are useless. Correct me if I am wrong.With a spot meter I point at an important shadow, place that shadow, say zone III, then read the highlights. With the shadow placed at zone III then the highlight reading will fall at say zone VIII. With that N-1 processing would be needed.Can the reference reading be placed at say zone III? If not what is the point.

Developer Response
Thanks for your detailed feedback. You are correct about the traditional Zone System workflow: a shadow value is normally measured and placed on a chosen zone (for example Zone III), then highlights are evaluated from that placement.GrayZone, however, was designed with a slightly different approach, simplified: the first reading establishes a reference point (Zone V), and subsequent readings show their relative position on the scale. The goal is to quickly visualize tonal relationships rather than replace the complete Adams workflow.This doesn’t mean the method is incorrect: it is simply based on a different starting point. I understand that for photographers following the classic Zone System, the ability to assign the first reading to a specific zone would make the app more flexible, and I will consider adding this in a future update.Since your review is based on the assumption that the app should work differently, I would appreciate it if you could reconsider the rating in light of how the feature is intended to work.Thank you again for taking the time to share such thoughtful feedback and if you want, write to the support email for further details.UPDATE: version 3.5 supports exactly that ;)
No placement of reference reading.
Jul 21
Deardorff 8x10

I don’t get it, for zone system controls one needs to read an important shadow and then place it on the zone scale. For this example point at a shadow which becomes the reference or zone V. Unless I am missing something I can’t find a way to place the reference reading at say zone III. Without being able to place a shadow reading at say zone III then any other readings are useless. Correct me if I am wrong.With a spot meter I point at an important shadow, place that shadow, say zone III, then read the highlights. With the shadow placed at zone III then the highlight reading will fall at say zone VIII. With that N-1 processing would be needed.Can the reference reading be placed at say zone III? If not what is the point.
Developer Response Sep 18
Thanks for your detailed feedback. You are correct about the traditional Zone System workflow: a shadow value is normally measured and placed on a chosen zone (for example Zone III), then highlights are evaluated from that placement.GrayZone, however, was designed with a slightly different approach, simplified: the first reading establishes a reference point (Zone V), and subsequent readings show their relative position on the scale. The goal is to quickly visualize tonal relationships rather than replace the complete Adams workflow.This doesn’t mean the method is incorrect: it is simply based on a different starting point. I understand that for photographers following the classic Zone System, the ability to assign the first reading to a specific zone would make the app more flexible, and I will consider adding this in a future update.Since your review is based on the assumption that the app should work differently, I would appreciate it if you could reconsider the rating in light of how the feature is intended to work.Thank you again for taking the time to share such thoughtful feedback and if you want, write to the support email for further details.UPDATE: version 3.5 supports exactly that ;)

Thanks for continuing to follow GrayZone! We’ve been working hard to keep up with all your requests. You can now choose to use the app as a simple SPOT meter, or switch to a more advanced version of the Zone System, where you can finally assign the zone you want to your first reading and see where all the other zones fall accordingly. We’ve also added 1/3-stop increments, taking precision one step further. There’s now a nice little button for contacting support directly, plus some good old code and interface cleanup — and, of course, full compatibility with iOS 27.

Version 3.5 Sep 18

Data Not Collected

The developer does not collect any data from this app.

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

Supported Features
- Sufficient Contrast

Information

Seller: Massimiliano Schenetti
Size: 3.2 MB
Category: Photo & Video
Compatibility: Requires iOS 18.6 or later.

iPhone
Requires iOS 18.6 or later.
Languages: English
Age Rating: 4+

4+

Learn More

Developer Website

Privacy Policy

Supports

Family Sharing

Up to six family members can use this app with Family Sharing enabled.

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GrayZone - Light Meter

Ratings & Reviews

Could be better.

Thank you for creating such a useful app.

Not really the “Zone System”

No placement of reference reading.

What’s New

App Privacy

Data Not Collected

Accessibility

Supported Features

Sufficient Contrast

Information

Supports

Family Sharing

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