Last Updated on 08/29/2025 by Chris Gampat
Kickstarter campaigns often come with their own rewards and risks. Sometimes, you get the gear you invested in on time, but there are rare instances where you don’t get anything. The latter seems to be the case for Negative Supply, a company whose reputation has gone from being good to absolutely bad. Four years after they first announced the LM1 Light meter, the company has been unable to deliver the product. Here is a look at the update from its backers.
What Happening?
Last year, a reader contacted us, sharing how the company had been unable to give them a date for the product launch. We have covered the LM1 Light meter over the years, and despite the articles about the company’s unprofessional behaviour, they haven’t returned the money or updated people further.
In a fresh email, the reader said to us, “It has been almost exactly a year since I last reached out to you. And you guessed it, neither myself or anyone on Kickstarter, has received a light meter from NS. In fact, the last update regarding the projects was made in March of this year from Saxon, who then placed the blame on outside vendors. After that, he never updated any of us on when we can expect to receive our light meters.” To give you an idea, there are 452 backers who have pledged $222,818 to make the idea a reality.
The 2025 Update on Kickstarter
To recap, in March, Saxon McClamma shared a lengthy post, talking about what is causing the setback. One of them is working with the external company, and the second is the redesign itself. As Saxon said in his post:
The logical next step was to begin work internally. As of today, we are officially announcing that the LM1 has undergone a complete re-design by our team internally. While this sounds like a huge step backward, the amount of progress we’ve been able to make with this new unified approach has been unprecedented.
The LM1 needed a few key changes to launch with the feature set and refinement we expected, and the aptly named “Negative Supply Electromechanical Design Team” (NSEDT) is in full flight, working non stop to get this product ready for launch. We’ve taken the core LM1 design (enclosure, button layouts, connectors) and integrated a new processor, battery management controller, and sensor module.
With so many challenges, Saxon states, “If there are no more issues later in the new PCB (V10), the lightmeter will go into the production stage. “This version will then be sent to Kickstarter backers who have opted to help with testing to provide feedback before ramping production,” he said. However, as a reader said, the backers feel that they were duped because Saxon has not provided any details since March.
On Kickstarter, you never get a refund. As a result, backers are frustrated and angry, and the lack of communication only adds to the complicated situation. As some pointed out, if Saxon and his team update them regularly, instead of carrying on with months of silence, they would appreciate that. After all, ghosting your backer is the last thing one must do if they wish to ever make another product.
