Record prices for antique cameras!

Excellent results were achieved throughout at the 26th WestLicht camera auction on Saturday. A large proportion of the lots on offer reached several times more than the starting price. Not only the traditionally sought-after lots from Leitz/Leica, but also lenses, historical cameras and rarities were able to increase strongly. The overall sales rate of the auction was a very high 85.5 percent, the turnover was around 2.5 million euros. The top lot was the rarest camera of the auction: the MP-24 from 1957 was sold for 240,000 euros at a price of 80,000 euros. The last Leica M Edition 100 from the special series celebrating the 100th anniversary of Leica found a new owner for 84,000 Euros (starting price: 25,000 Euros). From the Leica copies section, the famous Red Flag stood out. The rare Chinese Leica M4/M5 copy (starting price 26,000 euros) was worth 60,000 euros to a collector. Among the spy cameras, there was an exciting bidding war for a Ross No. 5 Mark IV Binocular Spy Camera. It was called at 7,000 Euros and finally achieved a price of 26,400 Euros. The Zunowflex camera in black lacquer from 1960, offered for the first time at an auction, sold for 43,200 Euros (starting price: 10,000 Euros) and among the historical cameras, the Palmer & Longking Camera, a daguerreotype camera with tripod from 1853, experienced a considerable increase with a price of 20,400 Euros (starting price: 5,000 Euros). All prices are hammer prices including Premium.

Photos: Christine Miess (WestLicht)