360,000 euros (incl. buyer’s premium) have been paid for a Leica M2 Grey Paint ‘Betriebskamera’ at the 36th Leitz Photographica Auction

The renowned auction house, Leitz Photographica Auction in Vienna, has held its 36th camera auction – once again yielding a number of remarkable results. Among the many highlights sold was a Leica M2 Grey Paint ‘Betriebskamera’ (factory model), which achieved a bid price of 360,000 euros incl. buyer’s premium. In 1960, Leitz manufactured twenty grey-painted M2 cameras for the US Air Force in Germany. This makes the grey M2 one of the rarest serially produced Leica models in history. At present, only around ten cameras from this series are known to exist. The auctioned camera is a Leica M2 Grey Paint ‘Betriebskamera’ – a pre-production sample of the grey paint M2.

Other high-end lots include the Leica M2 Black Paint once owned by the legendary Walker Evans, which achieved a bid price of 60,000 euros incl. buyer’s premium. Walker Evans was an American photographer and photojournalist who ranks among the most important photographers of the twentieth century. While the majority of his work was created in the USA, his artistic influence is recognizable around the world. Evans purchased the black paint M2 in 1962 and worked with it until 1973. The camera went to auction as the private property of one of Evans’ assistants, who had received it as a gift.

Leitz Camera Auction once again chose to sell one auction lot for charity: a Leica M10 Prototype P01 (lot number 129) changed hands for a remarkable 32,000 euros excl. buyer’s premium. The total proceeds incl. premium are to be donated to Caritas Vienna, an aid organization run by the Catholic Church.

‘Leitz Photographica Auction’ is one of the world’s leading auction houses for classic and vintage cameras and photographica, and is now firmly established on the international scene. A rare example of the Leica 0-Series produced in 1923 was a sensational highlight at the auction in 2018. The camera achieved a record-breaking hammer price of 2.4 million euros and still holds the record for the highest price ever paid for a camera sold by auction.

For further information visit www.leitz-auction.com.

Leica Camera AG is an internationally operating, premium-segment manufacturer of cameras and sport optics products. The legendary reputation of the Leica brand is founded on a long tradition of excellent quality. In combination with innovative technologies, all Leica products fulfil a common objective: better pictures, wherever perception and visualization matter. Leica Camera AG has its headquarters in Wetzlar, in the state of Hessen in Germany, and a second production site in Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal and operates its own worldwide network of regional organisations, Leica Retail Stores, Leica Galleries and Leica Akademies.