1948 Leica Reporter camera sells for $1.43 million
Cost of living crisis? What crisis!?
The results of the latest Leitz Photographica Auction in June have been announced, once again confirming that there's plenty of people out there with plenty of money to spend, and especially so when it comes to vintage camera gear.
The standout of the auction was a Leica 250 GG Reporter which managed to fetch the highest price of the event – a whopping 900,000 Euros including buyer’s premium ($1.43 million AUD).
Held twice a year, Leitz Photographica Auction bills itself as one of the world’s largest and most renowned auctions for vintage cameras and accessories.
Among the 100 items up for auction this time around were photographs created by Harold Edgerton, Raoul Hausmann, Imogen Cunningham, Helmut Newton, Ansel Adams and Walker Evans.
The Leica 250 GG Reporter was one of only 92 Leica Reporter cameras equipped with a separate electric motor drive, with Leica knowing of only around 16 that still survive.
According to Leica, the German Luftwaffe’s infamous STUKA dive bombers primarily used these cameras for aerial reconnaissance, however as the drives were typically permanently attached to their host planes, soldiers would swap out the cameras rather than deal with the entire assembly.
The particular camera that sold for 900,000 euros was delivered to the Dutch military, who managed to keep the matching motor together with the camera, something particularly uncommon.
Other auctioned cameras included a Leica M3 black paint "First Batch black dial", which sold for 540,000 Euros ($860,000 AUD).
This particular camera was considered especially valuable because it has a black film counter dial, which is even rarer than the body itself being black.
Another standout was a Leica MP owned by photographer Terry O'Neill, which achieved a final price of 240,000 Euros ($382,000 AUD) including premium.
O’Neill was a British photographer who passed away in 2019, and the creator of the photograph “The Morning After”, which fetched an auction price of 7,800 Euros the day before.
O'Neill's own Leica MP, released in 2018 as one of 35 Special Limited Edition cameras, was auctioned together with a Leica Summilux-M 50 mm f1.4 ASPH lens and a limited edition print of Audrey Hepburn.
Other standout items included a Leica M11 ‘Brass’ decked out in a green grip that was originally commissioned for an unnamed Hollywood actor.
The entirely brass constructed camera is one of only two copies, and raised 72,000 Euros for the charity Licht ins Dunkel.
Two other black paint rarities - an "M2 black paint Walker Evans" (lot 192, estimated at 60.000 to 70.000 Euro) achieved a price of 72.000 Euros, and the "M3 black paint John Bulmer" (lot 194, estimated at 80.000 to 100.000 Euros) was worth 102.000 Euros to a collector.
If your pockets are feeling particularly heavy, keep an eye on the next Leitz Photographica Auction, which will be number 43. It will take place in Vienna on 24-25 November.