The present invention includes capacitive film thickness measurement devices and measurement systems. The invention also includes machines or instruments using those aspects of the invention. The present invention additionally includes methods and procedures using those devices of the present invention. The present invention discloses a capacitance measurement device and technique useful in determining lubricant film thickness on substrates such as magnetic thin-film rigid disks. Also disclosed is a device and technique for determining film thickness by suspending the film in a liquid dielectric. Using the present invention, variations in lubricant thickness on the Angstrom scale or less may be measured quickly and nondestructively.