top of page
Weston Pixie Exposure Meter Model 548

Weston Pixie Exposure Meter, Model 548. 1968, USA manufacture.

A housing was made for this meter which allowed it to be used underwater. This was probably because, once set to the film in use, it required no further dial adjustment to read off the aperture setting. In other respects, this meter was commercially unsuccessful. In returning to the philosophy of the convenient but limited Direct Reading meter, they found themselves out of step with camera developments:

Serious amateur photographers would use a full-featured meter such as the Ranger 9. Snappers were, by the mid '60s, using cameras such as the 'Instamatic' which did not have, nor need a range of apertures and shutter speeds.

There is anecdotal evidence that the Pixie meter was popular with cine enthusiasts. Kodachrome II is one of the films listed on the meter and had been introduced as an 8mm cine film at the time. This would have been a very convenient meter to use alongside.

There was greater functionality with this meter, though it's not apparent from it's visual appearance: The casing separates to allow for the insertion of additional crescent-shaped overlays giving aperture scales for different or newer films. This thoughtful approach to versatility and future-proofing however, did not save this meter from a short production life and obscurity.

pixie w box.jpg

The box and instruction manual designs for the Pixie are delightfully whimsical. The meter is associated with global travel using illustrations of a Scottish bagpiper, a Mediterranean fisherman, a Spanish bullfighter and the Eiffel tower.

bottom of page