Frustrated photographer develops a watch with a built-in light meter to help with manual exposure readings

The Light Meter Watch by Increment Labs claims to be the world’s first light-meter integrated watch, but I cannot believe that somebody hasn’t thought of this before. And I mean that entirely as a compliment, because I think this is an interesting concept. But before you start waving your wallet around, it’s not available yet. In Q2 2026, the project will go live on Kickstarter, and the team is already testing out materials and building prototypes.

The watch is set to feature a light sensor, although unhelpfully, it’s unclear whether this will be for incident or reflective readings, or both. It also has aperture and shutter priority modes, a red backlight, and a golden-hour alarm. The concept is the brainchild of Rich Soler, who came up with the idea while struggling with manual photography, pondering: “What if you could measure light everywhere you go?”

He brought in university friend, Eddie Wells, and the pair set about founding Increment Labs. As it stands, the team has interviewed a broad range of photographers, endured 18 months of development and prototyping, in a bid to bring the “world’s first dedicated watch brand for photographers” into fruition.

Obviously there’s a long way to go, but as somebody who’s tested plenty of the best light meters, I think a light meter watch is an interesting concept, and something I’ll be watching closely. As it stands, I’d like to know more details, first and foremost the type of light it will measure.

If you’re already sold, you can join Increment Labs’ VIP list to receive a 40% discount, while a £1.50 deposit (about $2) will allow you to lock in a guaranteed price of £110 (around $150), with the watch set to retail for £185.

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