A €120,000 Zeiss Ikon rifle and €1.2 million Leica MP led the 39th Leitz Photographica Auction: Digital Photography Review

Last weekend, Mirrorless rumors (somewhat confusing) posted about the ‘glamorous and expensive’ Sonnar 180mm F2.8 lens that you can buy if you have a lot of money, for an extra €120,000. But what are expensive lenses and why Is it so expensive?

Contax Rifle Costume 543/75 / Source: Leitz Photographica Auction

For the avid reader, the lens may look familiar. The unique camera and lens combination has recently been included in the 39th Leitz Photographica Auction. Lot, number 429, is the one we introduced Our coverage. Although the final price is estimated between €60,000 and €70,000, up to almost $80,000, the final hammer price of the lot including the premium is €120,000, which is $135,220 at the time of writing.

Contax Rifle Costume 543/75 / Source: Leitz Photographica Auction

That was a large sum and much higher than the Leitz auction predicted the event. Lot 39 includes the Zeiss Ikon Contax 543/75 rifle, a very rare direct mount chrome 2.8/18cm Sonnar lens (no. 1874932) with hood, cable release, Contax II body (no. K.32168) and matching rarity finder 436/11. Everything is in excellent condition and fully finished, and it is a very rare set. It also has an interesting history. The outfit was developed by sports photographer Lothar Rübelt 80 years ago for the infamous 1936 Olympic Games in Nazi Germany.

Contax Rifle Costume 543/75 / Source: Leitz Photographica Auction

The Zeiss Ikon Rifle features an arsenal of cut-out rifles with a head-mounted camera. This is an ergonomic setup designed to take pictures with speed and comfort. The photographer who created it, Lothar Rübelt (1901-1990) was an Austrian photographer with an extensive portfolio of photography, including many excellent sports shots. It’s easy to consider the autofocus and fast shutter speeds of today’s digital cameras, but things were very different in the 1920s and 1930s. If you’d like to see some of Rübelt’s images, click here. His work is occasionally put up for auction, including many of the works in the Barnebys auction this early year.

Leica MP Black Paint No. 55 / Source: Leitz Photographica Auction.

There were several other very expensive hammers in the 39th Leitz Photographica Auction, including lot 79, another that we featured. The Leica MP Black Paint number 55 is expected to sell for up to €350,000, which is almost $400,000 USD. However, the extremely rare Leica camera, one of the rarest Leica models ever, sold for 1,200,000 euros ($1.35 million).

Leica MP Black Paint No. 55 / Source: Leitz Photographica Auction.

If you would like to see the full list of the results of the 39th Leitz Photographica Auction, click here. We were looking forward to the sequel. Auctions always include some gems from photography’s rich history.