A medium-format film camera on a tripod in a brick loft, late sun streaming through arched windows onto a still life on grey paper, lower Manhattan across the river

GlassMeter · DUMBO, Brooklyn

Loft Studio

Loft Studio runs on a laptop or desktop — it draws the whole studio in 3D. Send yourself the link and open it there.

GlassMeter · DUMBO, Brooklyn

Loft Studio

A medium-format film camera in a warehouse loft over the East River. Window light or soft boxes, white paper or black — light a still life, let GlassMeter read the light, and take a picture.

Pick a light under Light
Press METER on the phone
Press the white shutter button

18:36

Portra 400

Drag to aim · click to spot-meter · double-click to focus

DoF — — EV —

About this page

A meterless camera, a real loft.

This camera was made in 1988 without a light meter: photographers carried one in their pocket. GlassMeter is that meter for your phone, with 30 films and the Zone System built in. Here you can use both together in a Brooklyn loft studio, with the sun over DUMBO for any day you choose.

What's real

The light. The sun follows its true path over DUMBO for the date and hour you choose and comes in through the windows; the sky through the glass and every soft box are true area lights, set in lux, and the room bounces their light around. Scene brightness is calibrated so a grey card in noon sun meters EV 15.
The film. The curves, grain, halation and filter responses are the app's own code, ported line for line.
The optics. Field of view, depth of field and the aperture scale come from the lens maker's published data. The camera's screen shows the lens wide open and mirror-reversed, as the real one does.

How to shoot

Drag inside the phone's viewfinder to aim.
Optional: click the brightest and darkest things you care about. Each pin shows how light or dark it will print — its zone, from 0 (black) through V (mid-grey) to X (white).
Press METER: the free dial turns to the right exposure. Press the grey button at a dial's hub to lock it (it turns red).
Double-click the viewfinder to focus there, or turn the lens's focusing ring in 3D.
Press the white shutter button. The mirror flips, the shutter clicks, and your print develops in the tray.

Keys

M meter · F shoot · L next lens · G show or hide the phone
[ ] aperture · − = shutter speed · , . focus · arrows aim
B where to stand · C light · V move the tripod · Y watch the day · P pause time · T time speed
W open the hood · D look in · Z loupe · X preview depth · H tripod head · E take apart
N sound · K share link · ? this panel · Esc close

Credits

Brick, wood, linen and the still-life objects and furniture: Poly Haven (CC0) photo scans. The views from the windows: the site's own AI-generated images (Google Flow). The radio's music: the site's own AI-generated tracks (Google Flow Music). The city sounds are synthesised. The camera is modelled from the original service manual's drawings and the lens datasheets; it carries a Glass Works nameplate and is not affiliated with the original maker. Built with three.js.

Grinding the glass…

Setting up the studio — a few seconds the first time.