Rare Leica camera rifle prototype set to fetch $400k in auction
posted Tuesday, June 9, 2015 at 2:41 PM EDT
If you have a cool $400,000 burning a hole in your wallet, WestLicht Photographica Auctioneica has just the product for you.
Later this month the Austrian auction house will be auctioning off a New York Leica gun rifle prototype, ‘one of the rarest and most unusual’ accessories it’s come across. Bidding is set to start at roughly $170,000 with the final bid expected to be between $370,000 $400,000.
The prototype rifle/camera hybrid is believed to date back to 1939. Despite its age, WestLicht says the kit is ‘in beautifully and 100% condition.’
Below is a list of what all you will receive in the kit, as described by WestLicht:
- Modified Wetzlar PLOOT mirror housing
- Special bayonet mount Wetzlar viewfinder engraved ‘Ernst Leitz Wetzlar Germany’ in condenser logo
- Chrome Leica Standard body with modified baseplate
- Telyt 4.5/20cm lens no.272854 with hood
- Hektor 4.5/13.5cm lens with hood in short focusing mount and matching red maker’s box
Below are a couple detail shots of the kit you'll be receiving if you care to drop the dough on the historic, albeit dotless Leica:
(via DIY Photography)
Image credits: Photographs provided by WestLicht Photographica Auction