Oskar Barnak’s Leica 0-Series no.105 sold at the Leitz Photographica Auction held on June 11 in Leitz Park, Germany, for € 14.400.000 (approx. $15 million) nearly five times the highest estimation. This century-old camera is one of just 25 produced for testing in 1923, Leica 0-Series with the serial number 105 was the personal camera of the the inventor of the Leica – Oskar Barnack.
“I spent years working on this first model, and I still have many photographs from that time. Today, we can safely say that the legitimacy of a high-quality 35 mm camera has been proven.” -Oskar Barnack
“The lot includes an original leather lens cap on a string, later aluminium cap, engraved with initials ‘O.B.’ and heavily-modified Nettel camera that Barnack used for his photographic research studies, as well as numerous documents and letters concerning the Barnack’s camera.” – the Leitz Photographica Auction says.
The previous record holder, Leica 0-series No.116 scored in 2012 at a WestLicht auction 2.16 million euros (approx. $2.8 million), while Leica 0-Series No.122 sold at auction in March of 2018 for about $2.96 million.
Images Courtesy of Leitz Photographica Auction
