Flash meter

Glossary Terms

A flash meter is an exposure meter that only measures flash light. Early exposure meters could only measure ambient light and the electronics necessary to measure flash were bulky and expensive, so dedicated flash meters were made.

With the reduction in both cost and size of electronics, later exposure meters were electronic and incorporated both ambient and flash measurement.

Flash measurement requires a fast reacting light sensor, such as the so-called Silicon Blue Cell (SBC, actually a silicon photo diode). Combined ambient & flash meters have two cells, one for each type of light measurement.