Most expensive camera: Leica camera breaks world record (HD Video)
VIENNA, Austria--A Leica camera prototype made in 1923 (an exemplar of the pre-production Leica 0-Series) fetched 2.16 million euros (US$2.79 million) at auction - setting the new world record for the Most expensive camera,
according to the World Record Academy: www.worldrecordacademy.com/. Photo: A rare 1923 Leica went for €2.16 million euros ($2.8 million) at an auction in Vienna, making it the most expensive camera ever sold.
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The previous world record for the most expensive camera was also held by a 0-Series Leica which fetched 1.32m euros. In 2007, that camera had been auctioned for just 336,000 euros.
The Guinness world record for the Largest collection of film camera was set by Richard LaRiviere (USA), who owns 894 different film cameras.
Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the Largest collection of still cameras (still photography) was set by Dilish Parekh of Mumbai, India, who has a collection of 4,425 antique cameras.
The camera was picked up by an anonymous bidder, and the price paid was more than seven times the starting price of €300,000. The bidding stopped at €1.8 million, and the rest is for taxes and other fees.
In 1923, the German photography equipment manufacturer released only 25 test versions of Leica 0-series cameras.
These test models were the prototypes for the famous Leica A cameras, the first commercially successful compact cameras to use 35mm film.
Serial production started about two years after that.
Of the 25 test versions, only half the number have survived.
The World's Most Expnsive Camera is still in working condition.
Leica was founded in 1849, specialising in the development of lenses and microscopes. Optical engineer Oskar Barnack worked in the microscope division, but was a keen photographer in his spare time.
Because he suffered chronic asthma, he longed for a lightweight camera that would be less cumbersome to carry around with him.
Seeing the potential of 35mm film - the same format used by Hollywood movies - Barnack designed personal prototypes for the Leica cameras in the years 1908-1923, and many of his shots from this period still survive.
After he brought the idea to his bosses, the 25 0-Series cameras were created for internal tests, and to discover whether other photographers would adopt the format.
Although the prototypes received a mixed reception, the company took a gamble and produced 1,000 units of the Leica A.
Notable for its collapsible lens, the camera went on sale in 1925. By 1932, about 90,000 Leica cameras were in use.
The company, based in Solms, Germany, remains a leading camera manufacturer today.
