This paper establishes a clear relation between the photocount distribution (PCD) of a low light level signal and its autocorrelation function (AC). The conclusion is that the evaluation of the AC from the measurement of the PCD is equivalent to that of the AC. Although the signal to noise ratio decreases when AC evaluation is obtained from PCD measurements, this technique allows AC values to be obtained more quickly and easily. Theoretical evaluation of the variances involved in these measurements and a simulation checking procedure are also described.