Historic purchase at the 32nd WestLicht auction on March 10 in Vienna. The price of the camera started at &euro 400,000 and rose six-fold during the auction, amounting to &euro 2 400 000 ~ $ 2 957 304 . A private collector from Asia is the winner of the Leica-0 #122 . The price has surpassed the previous record, which was also held by the Leica-0 No. 116 , sold in 2012 for &euro 2 160 000.
The high price is due to the fact that the camera is a rare Leica-0 original, preserved to this day in fully working order. In 1923, two years before the first Leica was launched, Ernst Leitz produced 25 Leica-0 cameras as test samples, 12 of which have survived to this day and only three are known to still be in pristine condition.
Another great result at this past auction was achieved by another Leica camera from the famous Jim Jannard founder of Oakley collection: The Leica MP-89 black paint went up from its starting price of &euro 120,000 to &euro 456 000. Leica MP-2, the first electrically powered camera, has changed hands at &euro 432 000. For a relatively modest sum of money in the &euro The Hasselblad Lunar Surface SWC, made for the Apollo missions, was bought for 48,000.
The 32nd auction was the most successful in the rich history of the Viennese auction house, with total sales of 91% of the 530 lots, with almost 100% of the Leica. The next WestLicht auction is scheduled for November this year.
Who was the buyer of the Leica-0 camera sold at auction for €2.4 million and what makes this camera so special and valuable?
Wow, that’s an astonishing price for a camera! I wonder what makes this particular Leica-0 so valuable? Was it used by a famous photographer or is it a rare edition? Also, who would be willing to spend such a huge amount of money on a camera? It’s fascinating how objects can hold such high monetary and historical significance.