Took screen shot of the Photone app with purchased full spectrum led and the diffuser to come along with it. I see the app mentioned constantly and this has been my experience with it, pretty massive difference.
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I may buy a a true PAR meter. Light is the one thing I’m guessing. Everything else I’ve kind of figured out.
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It was the one thing I’ve tried pushing off for so long, bought the stuff for Photone then got a lux meter. All to avoid spending the money when it made me spend more in the long run 
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Me too!
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I assume the “purchased full spectrum led” is Photone’s $7 LED Full Spectrum correction – not a new light(?) I also assume your light is a full-spectrum LED.
A 2.6X discrepancy between two light-measuring devices is HUGE. Have you shared your results with Photone? They may be able to identify the cause.
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Lights are the two spider farm sf1000’s position is same to get those results. I posted early on here when I first used Photone how I didn’t think it was accurate at all. It would be nice to get some money back or something from it, all in all was like $35. I went to calibrate and it gives a warning that they’re calibrated for my phone so I can see an argument there.
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I wouldn’t touch the Photone’s calibration until I’ve shared those results with them and seen if Photone can explain them. I wouldn’t think that the spectral sensitivity of selfie cameras in your iPhone model vary enough to produce such a large difference in readings.
@Bigcbud : Were you able to follow up with Photone?
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Honestly forgot all about it after the photobio got m here lol
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I guess I am lucky with my IPhone 11 promax and the filter…compared my readings to a youtube video of my light output and it was within 10% with the filter but was almost 20% off with the printer paper…
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Yeah I don’t get it, we just upgraded our iPhones so I was even more hopeful for it.
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±10% is a typical tolerance for light measurements and pretty good considering that they don’t manufacture the “instrument.” Getting ±5% requires a much more expensive device.
Makes me wonder if the app has a bug that’s selecting the wrong correction factors for your phone. That’s why I encourage you to contact Photone and send them your photo comparing their app vs. the Photobio. A 2.6X error says something is seriously wrong that they should be told about.
@Bigcbud : To satisfy my curiosity, I sent your photos to Photone. They pointed out that the absence of crosshairs in the Photone screenshot indicates the “Diffuser Type” setting was incorrect, and that would explain why its readings were so much higher than the Photobio’s. They directed me to their instructions.
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I did just see it was on paper instead of diffuser accessory. I’ll test again at lights on in 8 hours and show you what I see, thank you for looking into it. I kind of just gave up caring once I got photo bio but it’s not good of me to post misinformation for people who rely on the app.
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Anything to report yet?
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Yes sorry lights out for me is 8:40 morning 8:40 at night so have been spacing. Looks like it’s within 50-60 PPFD of each other which is definitely worth the money spent on the app. So it reads that amount lower with the app.
Hard to read but says 313.5 for photobio
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That’s much closer than before, but I notice your iPhone is in a protective case, like an Otterbox. Please indulge me if you have a chance and do a comparison with the case removed. I suspect the plastic screen protector is making the Photone readings lower than they should be.
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I can definitely see that being a reason why it is lower but not wanting to take the glass protector off right now. I would say though that it seems as if the photobio app is more than sufficient at reading given its price compared to the photobio.
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