Photographic accessories brand Hedeco has launched a new spot meter small enough to fit in a pocket.
The Spot One, which resembles vintage handheld spot meters like the Pentax Spotmeter, was launched on Tuesday (16 December) on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter.
“The Spot One is a modern take on the more bare-bones spot meters of the past, being similarly minimalistic but more compact as its predecessors. It has a one-degree spot size and a customisable, fast user interface,” Hedeco’s founder, Johannes Heberlein said on the meter’s Kickstarter page.
“The Spot One uses a screen/target projection system that anchors the projected target exactly on the measured area, similar to fighter jet gun sights. The positioning of the eye relative to the meter does not influence the accuracy,” he added.
There are several videos on the Kickstarter page showing the prototype meter in action. Users set their ISO and either preferred f stop or shutter speed, then take a first reading from a neutral part of the scene. Panning the meter across the scene then measures the relative brightness of the subject, the background and the highlights, and makes sure that they will fall within the film’s dynamic range. The meter has an EV readout which displays +5/-5 stops.
The Spot One has the following features:
- The rearward direction keys allow the change of either the aperture f-number, the shutter time or both values at the same time in such a way that the resulting EV-value remains constant
- When taking a reference measurement with the trigger button, the meter automatically calculates parameters either via aperture or shutter-priority, depending on which parameter is currently selected
- Zone-scale values (Zone 0 to Zone X) can be displayed instead of the EV-offset values
- Shutter times and aperture f-number values can be set in third-, half- or full-stop increments
- Minimum and maximum markers can be activated via the menu and either automatically update when panning across the frame after a measurement, or alternatively can be set manually by the user
The meter display adjusts for dark scenes and the meter has a built-in neutral density filter which makes the display readable in very bright environments. The filter only blocks the optical path to the display, according to Heberlein, and does not affect the meter’s readings.
The meter also comes with an integrated sun hood which clips on to the front of the meter and attaches to the body when not in use.
The meter is designed for both right and left-handed photographers because the controls are based in the centre of the meter, Heberlein said.
The meter’s specifications are:
The meter costs €222 (£195/$261) for an early bird option, and €249 (£218/$293) for the standard option.
The Spot One is funding until 15 January, with deliveries expected in June 2026.
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).
I’m doing everything I can to promote film photography in the 21st Century, and help it survive and thrive. If you want to write something for Kosmo Foto, please drop me a line at foto.dowling@gmail.com.
