Leitz Photographica Auction: My top-ten favourites

The tongue twister above is by way of introduction to the fact that the next Leitz Photographica Auction contains some items which predate Leica. And it leads directly to my top-ten favourites for the auction on June 8.

My top-ten favourites

The generally accepted start year for the company, which eventually became Leitz and then Leica AG in more recent years, is 1849. Yet the first commercial Leica (Leitz Camera) was offered on the market in 1925, some 76 years later. So, what were they doing during all that time? Well, they made countless microscopes and other optics, of which more later. Then they offered cameras or bits of cameras, particularly lenses, but none of these were called Leicas until 1925.

I have chosen ten items to feature in this article, and people who know me will recognise that I have gone for items which appeal to me or are interesting from a historical perspective. The latter is one of the factors which make such auctions so fascinating. We get to see the whole history of cameras and photography, set out for us in a catalogue. After the auction, the lots have been sold, but the catalogue remains as essential documentation. 

1. The Reise Kamera

Let’s start with this early 18×24cm plate Leitz Reise Kamera from 1905, which is the first item in the auction catalogue. Reise Kamera means a “travel camera” which may surprise since these are usually not at all small and lie somewhere in size between field cameras and studio cameras. I have an ICA Reise Kamera from Dresden in my collection, and it folds up quite neatly to fit in a suitable carrier bag. It is quite similar to this one, but it does not carry a Leitz lens like the 220mm Periplan on this item. However, back then, Leitz did not have a massive reputation for cameras or camera lenses. It is also possible, as in the case of some other large format cameras offered by Leitz around that time, that the body of the camera was made by an outside supplier with a Leitz lens added.

This is an important historical camera, and it is the first time that one has been seen at a Leitz Auction. I have a great interest in significant historical cameras. And if I were to be offered any camera in this catalogue, with no possibility of resale, I would take this one over all the black paint items and other hot buys. The lot comes with a Bergmann catalogue for 1905 which lists the camera. Whoever buys this will be buying something that is quite unique.

This is Lot No 1 Start Price €30,000 Estimate of €60,000-€70,000.

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2. The Luxus Leica

All that glitters etc. My Leica Forum friend Pierre Dubois has a website in French that is dedicated to the gold-plated early Leica Luxus cameras. 

This includes a list of Luxus Leicas and this one, a I Model A SN 48434, is on the list and is recorded as having the rare red lizard skin. Also coming in this lot are Leitz Luxus 3×20 binoculars also with the same red lizard skin. The camera is recorded as having been sent to Anton Baumann, who was a travelling lecturer and photographer for Leitz.

These genuine Luxus cameras (there are many fakes, but this one is genuine) are much sought after by wealthy collectors, and predicting the final value is difficult.

This is Lot No 11 with a Start Price of €160,000 and an Estimate of €240,000-€300,000.

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3. The prototype

One of the things that strikes one in researching the history of Leitz/Leica is the number of very clever prototypes that never actually reached production. This one features a novel circular mechanical winder which plugs into an additional baseplate. 

It is on a IIIc Betriebskamera “works camera” from 1950. Only a tiny number of these items were produced, and it never achieved serial production status. The two photos below show the clockwork motor and how it fitted into the baseplate. This is a remarkably rare item, which tells a lot about the way the company was thinking about motor drives just after WWII. The drive can handle both single and serial exposures via a switch. 

This is Lot No 37 with a Start Price of €40,000 and an estimate of €80,000—€90,000.

I suppose now is an appropriate moment to mention that collectors who buy such rare items are generally buying to collect rather than to use. However, we would all want to give this one a go if we were lucky enough to acquire it.

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4. The wind-up merchant

On the same theme as the previous item, this is a prototype with a novel motor wind, electric rather than mechanical in this case. As this is a 1958 black paint version of the Leica MP2 professional camera equipped with a special electric motor drive, capable of capturing 3.5 frames per second. 

Included is a distinctive battery grip which screws to the bottom of the motor as well as other accessories, including a second smaller battery pack, a control panel, a prototype charger, and a photoelectric sensor for automatic shutter release. Also included is a Leitz 3.5 cm f/3.5 Summaron lens. Only 15 MP2 cameras were produced, and around half of them had this motor drive. However, for production purposes, another type of motor drive was chosen. This was the New York Drive, which also involved two pieces. The photos below show details of what is involved in this lot.

Lot No 108 with a Start Price of €400,000 and an estimate of €700,000-€800,000.

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5. The Kellner microscope

This is probably the second most interesting item in the auction after No 1, the Leitz Reise Kamera, and it comes from before Leica and even Leitz. In 1849, a young man called Carl Kellner formed the Optische Institut in Wetzlar, and it was this firm which went on to become Ernst Leitz in 1869, five years after Leitz himself had joined the firm in 1864. 

However, Kellner died at the young age of 29 in 1855. He was primarily self-taught in optics and had a great interest in achromatic optics, particularly for microscopes and telescopes. This passion for optics lives on today in people such as Peter Karbe.

The auction item is a Carl Kellner Medium Microscope No 108 from 1854, which makes it 170 years old. It is a beautifully made optical instrument and is very similar to the Kellner Microscope No 479 from 1857 which I saw in the Leitz Microscope Museum in Wetzlar last October. This display is on one of the upper floors of the Wetzlar Rathaus (Town Hall) which is just across the bridge connecting it to the old main Leitz Factory. The current lot includes a few additional eyepieces and lenses.

This is Lot No 185 with a start price of €3,000 and an estimate of €6,000-€7,000

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6. The pretty Petzval

My vote for the prettiest item in the auction goes to this French Ninet Brass Petzval lens of 140mm from about 1870. It follows the design created by Josef Petzval in the 1840s, which was used by many mid-19th century portrait photographers, and it has the characteristic rack and pinion focus mechanism of most Petzval lenses. This reminds me rather of a reversed “Mountain Elmar”. It is a little beauty in my book.

This is Lot No 185 with a start price of €300 and an estimate of €600-€700.

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7. The wildcard

Anton Baumann, who was a Leitz photographer and demonstrator, has been mentioned already in connection with a Luxus gold-plated Leica and his name pops up again here. This rifle lens was supplied to him in 1938. The lens is a Telyt 40cm f/5 with a modified PLOOT viewfinder which is on a mount with a rifle stock which sticks out behind the camera, a Leica IIIb from 1938 in this case, all contained in a beautiful custom-made case. The item was produced by E Leitz New York and was inspired by Commander Attilio Gatti, a well-known wildlife photographer in Africa. 

Rifle stock items, such as this one, usually sell well. Some more details of the lot are in the photos below.

This is Lot No 192 with a start price of €120,000 and an Estimate of €240,000-€300,000.

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8. The FARBA and the FARPU

I am including this comparatively modest lot as I found lovely examples of both of these items a few weeks ago in a collection which I am cataloguing here in Dublin. 

These beautiful items were used in connection with the short-lived Leitz Agfacolor lenticular film system from the 1930s. The FARBA was used with the Leitz 7.3 cm f/1.9 Hektor lens for taking, while the FARPU was used with the same lens for projection. 

The concept of a ruled filter or screen for additive colour photography goes back to the late 19th Century and the efforts of people such as John Joly in Dublin. However, Kodak and, indeed, Agfa and others, soon came up with a different concept. Subtractive layers of chemicals in transparency and print films eventually won out against additive systems such as this, which required the use of special filters or screens. 

This quickly rendered the use of such items obsolete. I have the 7.3 cm Hektor lens with the non-rotating focus mount for which these filters were designed, but I have not got around to purchasing the filters, as they are quite rare and expensive – pricier than the lens itself. There is another set of filters for the 5cm f/2 Summar which requires a special f/2.9 setting to be used. With the Hektor, you would shoot wide open at f/1.9. These filters are lovely things. 

This is Lot No 208 with a start price of €1,500 and an Estimate of €3,000- €3,400.

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9. The punkah camerah

Can you imagine holding a fan in front of a lens while you are taking a photo? That is what happens with this wonderful camera/lens combination, an 18×24cm large format camera with a Goerz Hypergon 60mm lens. It is fitted with a star-shaped, air-operated fan in front of the lens to govern even exposure and avoid vignetting. What will they think of next? All explained here.  

Back in its day, the 60mm Hypergon was regarded as an ultra-wide lens which gave rise to darkened edges. The lens itself did not have a shutter, and the photographer operated the fan through an air bulb which is visible in the photo above. The star-shaped fan could also be swivelled to one side if not needed. It is a form of ‘dodging,’ but evenly done across the whole frame. I would love to hear from any reader that has actually used one of these fascinating devices. The lens and fan details are shown here:

This is Lot No 326 with a start price of €2,000 and an estimate of €4,000-€5,000.

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10. The space explorer

I have been saying for some years now that items from the former Soviet Union sell very well at this and other auctions. This is a space camera from the Soyuz era of the 1960s. It has a feature which we normally don’t associate with film cameras from that era, but rather with the digital cameras of today. This one has a rechargeable battery which is good for 350 to 400 frames on an automatic cocking motor drive, which must have pleased the cosmonauts greatly. 

As far as I can see, though, this camera used standard 35mm film cassettes, so the cosmonauts did not get away with too much slacking! The camera had a restricted speed range of 1/500, 1/250, 1/125 and used highly sensitive film specifically designed for the space industry. The serial number on the camera, 0000007, might have appealed to a certain Mr Bond who was around in that era. 

This is Lot No 367 with a Start Price of €20,000 and an Estimate of €40,000—€50,000.

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Tongue-twisting sense

The top-ten favourites list I have chosen consists largely of items that I might find interesting. I could have shown any number of black or olive-paint Leica M cameras, but these are always there, and they always sell well. I have tried to depict the many steps along the way for cameras and optics since the 1850s. Furthermore, I hope that my tongue twisting title now makes some sense. Best of luck to anyone who might be bidding in the 44th Leitz Photographica Auction.

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