by nobodyofnote on 09 Jun 2012 04:33 Camera sets record price at sale in Vienna
A Vienna-based auction house has sold a 1923 Leica camera for 2.16 million euros. The final bid was seven times what had previously been estimated.
The sale of the photo camera, manufactured by the iconic German brand almost a century ago, makes it the most expensive camera in the world.
According to the WestLicht gallery, specialists had put the starting price and minimum bid at around 300,000.
The auction house did not reveal the buyer's name.
The 1923 camera is one of only 25 test models produced by Leica in 1923, two years prior to launching serial production. Only 12 of the 25 are known to have survived.
The previous record for such a camera was set in May 2011, when the same model sold for 1.9 million dollars to an Asian private collector.
The WestLicht gallery was founded on 11 June 2001 as a centre and shop window for photography. Leica was founded in 1849.
Source: http://austriantimes.at/news/Business/2 ... _in_Vienna (Austrian Times, 13th May 2012).
