I often start my auction articles by showing early Leicas from the 1920s. But in this overview of the Wetzlar Camera Auction No. 7, I am going back 85 years further, to 1840, to show one of the first ever all-metal cameras from a very famous name in the history of photography and lenses: Voigtländer.
Peter Wilhelm Friedrich Voigtländer, together with Josef Maximilian Petzval, had created a lens with the then astonishing aperture f/3.7 and incorporated it into a camera to produce images using the Daguerreotype process. This process had been offered as a ‘gift to the world’ by the French Government in the previous year, 1839. Only in England and Wales was a licence required, due to certain events and legal niceties.
1. The torpedo
The torpedo (this was made before the modern torpedo was invented) shape of the item is striking even today, and in brass it is extraordinarily beautiful. It has rack-and-pinion focus similar to that found on Petzval lenses.
It also has a slot for an aperture, like the later Waterhouse stops.
The Voigtländer Metal Daguerreotype Camera comes on a pillar mount, and the lot includes a book about the camera from November 1841 with illustrations and instructions in German.
I have Irish-made brass lenses from the 19th Century, but none of them has all the features to be found in this one item. Only 10–15 examples are thought to have survived the 185 years of their existence. This is a spectacular item which wins my ‘one I would like to take way’ award hands down this time around.
Lot No 233 Start Price €100,000 Estimated Range €200,000-300,000
2. The Leica 1 Model A
The first Leica up is a I Model A outfit with the serial number No 226. It is very similar to No 225 which sold in an outfit at the Leitz 100 Year Auction in June for a hammer price of €132,000. This outfit comes with an Anastigmat 50mm f/3.5 lens, the earliest one used on Leica cameras, a beautiful early ribbed ETRIN case, a FODUA rangefinder, and a FILCA A cassette.
This is a lovely outfit which has a significant place in the history of Leica cameras, representing the 101st production Leica camera.
Lot No 2 Start Price €40,000 Estimated Range €80,000-100,000
3. The walkie no talkie
The next item is something which often turned up in the hands of British seaside ‘walkies’ photographers, a Leica 250 FF First Series. In this case, it is one of the earliest models from 1934 with nickel furniture and a Leitz Elmar 50mm f3.5 lens.
The camera also contains two of the much sought after KOOBF cassettes for taking up to 250 frames. These cameras were used by British seaside photographers up to the 1960s.
Lot No 17 Start Price €14,000 Estimated Range €25,000-30,000
4. The high-price MP
The item with the highest estimated price in this auction is Leica MP -20 which was delivered in 1957. It is a black paint item, of which 140 were made, and it comes with a Leicavit winder and a Leitz Summilux 50mm f/1.4 lens. These rare cameras, which were produced for professionals in the mid-late 1950s, frequently fetch a large premium at auction.
Lot No 64 Start Price €200,000 Estimated Range €350,000-450,000
5. The snipped Tri-Elmar MATE
For the really curious, there is a cutaway demonstration model of the Leica 28-35-50mm f/4 Tri-Elmar lens. I say ‘curious’ as the lens cannot be used for photography, but it does show how this unique lens was constructed and how the different focal lengths were brought into play.
Lot No 93 Start Price €1,600 Estimated Range €3,000 -3,500
6. La Leica italiana
The next item is an extremely rare Italian Leica copy. Only 20 were made, and this one comes with a nice leather case. The catalogue states that some aperture blades are missing from the very rare Koristka Victor 5cm f/3.5 lens that is on the camera. This is the Boniforti & Ballerio Perseo Standard which produces images in a 24×34 mm format.
Lot No 206 Start Price €8,000 Estimated Range €15,000-20,000
7. The red pioneer
The last item is a 1944 Russian Leica copy called the GOI Pioneer with a Jupiter 5cm f/1.5 lens. Only a handful of such wartime cameras exist today. Like many rare Former Soviet Union (FSU) cameras, this fetches a premium price, and it already has a bid of €30,000 on its head.
Lot No 210 Start Price €30,000 Estimated Range €50,000 -70,000
Time and place
The auction takes place in Wetzlar at 11am GMT+1 on the 11 October 2025. Get full details here.
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