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Collectibles

75-year-old Leica Reporter camera & motor-drive sets world-record price

By Mike Hanlon
June 14, 2023
75-year-old Leica Reporter camera & motor-drive sets world-record price
One of Leica's 250 GG cameras fitted with the first 35mm camera motor drive (the"Leica-Motor MOOEV") and 250-frame cassette housing, set a new world record price at auction for the model on 10 June 2023 when it sold for €900,000 (US$967,410). It narrowly missed becoming just the 14th camera in history to sell for more than US$1 million.
One of Leica's 250 GG cameras fitted with the first 35mm camera motor drive (the"Leica-Motor MOOEV") and 250-frame cassette housing, set a new world record price at auction for the model on 10 June 2023 when it sold for €900,000 (US$967,410). It narrowly missed becoming just the 14th camera in history to sell for more than US$1 million.
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One of Leica's 250 GG cameras fitted with the first 35mm camera motor drive (the"Leica-Motor MOOEV") and 250-frame cassette housing, set a new world record price at auction for the model on 10 June 2023 when it sold for €900,000 (US$967,410). It narrowly missed becoming just the 14th camera in history to sell for more than US$1 million.
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One of Leica's 250 GG cameras fitted with the first 35mm camera motor drive (the"Leica-Motor MOOEV") and 250-frame cassette housing, set a new world record price at auction for the model on 10 June 2023 when it sold for €900,000 (US$967,410). It narrowly missed becoming just the 14th camera in history to sell for more than US$1 million.
The new world record price for a Leica 250 GG + MOOEV might not have been forecast accurately by the auction estimate of €300,000 to €350,000, but it was not entirely unexpected. In 1996, a Leica 250 GG Reporter + MOOEV that was manufactured in 1942 sold for approximately US$80,000, which is believed to have been a world record price for a Leica and the second highest for a camera, at that time. The final price in euros has not been recorded, but the sale was made by Auction Team Breker in Cologne, Germany, to Stanley Tamarkin, a New York camera dealer.
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The new world record price for a Leica 250 GG + MOOEV might not have been forecast accurately by the auction estimate of €300,000 to €350,000, but it was not entirely unexpected. In 1996, a Leica 250 GG Reporter + MOOEV that was manufactured in 1942 sold for approximately US$80,000, which is believed to have been a world record price for a Leica and the second highest for a camera, at that time. The final price in euros has not been recorded, but the sale was made by Auction Team Breker in Cologne, Germany, to Stanley Tamarkin, a New York camera dealer.
This is the previous auction price record holder for a Leica 250 GG Reporter fitted with a MOOEV Leica-Motor
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This is the previous auction price record holder for a Leica 250 GG Reporter fitted with a MOOEV Leica-Motor
The 1839 Giroux Daguerréotype” was the first commercially-produced camera in the world and was the initial spark that started the wildfire spread of photography. More than 90% of adult humans now carry a digital camera in their pocket, but when this camera was manufactured in limited numbers by Alphones Giroux in Paris in 1839, it was one of the very first instruments capable of recording a photographic image. Leitz Photographica sold this camera in 2010 for €732,000 (US$897,578).
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The 1839 Giroux Daguerréotype” was the first commercially-produced camera in the world and was the initial spark that started the wildfire spread of photography. More than 90% of adult humans now carry a digital camera in their pocket, but when this camera was manufactured in limited numbers by Alphones Giroux in Paris in 1839, it was one of the very first instruments capable of recording a photographic image. Leitz Photographica sold this camera in 2010 for €732,000 (US$897,578).
In 2007, Leitz Photographica sold this previously unknown sliding box Daguerreotype camera that was manufactured in 1839 by Susse Frères (the Susse Brothers), at 31 Place de la Bourse in Paris. Numerous experts attest that it is very likely the oldest commercially produced camera in the world. The camera fetched €576,000 (US$774,893) to become the most valuable camera ever sold at auction on 26 May 2007.
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In 2007, Leitz Photographica sold this previously unknown sliding box Daguerreotype camera that was manufactured in 1839 by Susse Frères (the Susse Brothers), at 31 Place de la Bourse in Paris. Numerous experts attest that it is very likely the oldest commercially produced camera in the world. The camera fetched €576,000 (US$774,893) to become the most valuable camera ever sold at auction on 26 May 2007.
In 2007, Leitz Photographica sold this previously unknown sliding box Daguerreotype camera that was manufactured in 1839 by Susse Frères (the Susse Brothers), at 31 Place de la Bourse in Paris. Numerous experts attest that it is very likely the oldest commercially produced camera in the world. The camera fetched €576,000 (US$774,893) to become the most valuable camera ever sold at auction on 26 May 2007.
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In 2007, Leitz Photographica sold this previously unknown sliding box Daguerreotype camera that was manufactured in 1839 by Susse Frères (the Susse Brothers), at 31 Place de la Bourse in Paris. Numerous experts attest that it is very likely the oldest commercially produced camera in the world. The camera fetched €576,000 (US$774,893) to become the most valuable camera ever sold at auction on 26 May 2007.
The terrifying German WW2 "Stuka" (Junkers Ju 87 Sturzkampfflugzeug) dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft became a powerful propaganda symbol of German air power during the 1939-1942 Blitzkrieg of London. It was both deadly accurate in delivering bombs on target, and was emotionally paralyzing to those on the ground because of the ram-air "Jericho trumpets" fitted to those faired main gear legs. It was also the carrier of nearly all of the Leica 250 GG Reporter cameras that were fitted with the MOOEV Leica-Motor and 250-frame film carriers.
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The terrifying German WW2 "Stuka" (Junkers Ju 87 Sturzkampfflugzeug) dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft became a powerful propaganda symbol of German air power during the 1939-1942 Blitzkrieg of London. It was both deadly accurate in delivering bombs on target, and was emotionally paralyzing to those on the ground because of the ram-air "Jericho trumpets" fitted to those faired main gear legs. It was also the carrier of nearly all of the Leica 250 GG Reporter cameras that were fitted with the MOOEV Leica-Motor and 250-frame film carriers.
Leitz Photographica now sells almost all of the most expensive cameras in the world. Indeed, our records show that of the top 50 most expensive cameras ever sold at auction, Leitz Photographica is responsible for 48 of them – we can think of no other auction genre where one auctioneer is so entirely dominant.
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Leitz Photographica now sells almost all of the most expensive cameras in the world. Indeed, our records show that of the top 50 most expensive cameras ever sold at auction, Leitz Photographica is responsible for 48 of them – we can think of no other auction genre where one auctioneer is so entirely dominant.
On 10 June 2023, this Leica M3 black paint "First Batch black dial" sold for €540,000 (US$580,446), becoming one of the 25 most expensive cameras ever sold at auction.
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On 10 June 2023, this Leica M3 black paint "First Batch black dial" sold for €540,000 (US$580,446), becoming one of the 25 most expensive cameras ever sold at auction.
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One of Leica's 250 GG "Reporter" cameras fitted with a "Leica-Motor MOOEV,” the world’s first 35mm camera motor drive unit, has gone within a whisker of becoming the 14th camera to ever sell for more than US$1 million.

As seems almost mandatory whenever Leitz Photographica holds an auction, the historic model set a new world record auction price on 10 June 2023 when it sold for €900,000 (US$967,410).

The new world record price for a Leica 250 GG + MOOEV might not have been forecast accurately by the auction estimate of €300,000 to €350,000, but it was not entirely unexpected. In 1996, a Leica 250 GG Reporter + MOOEV that was manufactured in 1942 sold for approximately US$80,000, which is believed to have been a world record price for a Leica and the second highest for a camera, at that time. The final price in euros has not been recorded, but the sale was made by Auction Team Breker in Cologne, Germany, to Stanley Tamarkin, a New York camera dealer.
The new world record price for a Leica 250 GG + MOOEV might not have been forecast accurately by the auction estimate of €300,000 to €350,000, but it was not entirely unexpected. In 1996, a Leica 250 GG Reporter + MOOEV that was manufactured in 1942 sold for approximately US$80,000, which is believed to have been a world record price for a Leica and the second highest for a camera, at that time. The final price in euros has not been recorded, but the sale was made by Auction Team Breker in Cologne, Germany, to Stanley Tamarkin, a New York camera dealer.

In 1936, the Leica Reporter became the first 35mm camera to feature a 1/1,000 second shutter speed, so the logical development of a larger film housing and a motor-drive ensued, with the resultant package capable of shooting four frames a second.

When fitted with a 250-frame cassette housing and the MOOEV electric motor drive, the resulting “GG” model cameras became an important technological advantage for the Luftwaffe (German for “air weapon”) arm of the German military during World War II, and a special compartment was made to house the camera in the Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bomber for aerial surveillance and to measure the effectiveness of bombing runs.

The terrifying German WW2 "Stuka" (Junkers Ju 87 Sturzkampfflugzeug) dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft became a powerful propaganda symbol of German air power during the 1939-1942 Blitzkrieg of London. It was both deadly accurate in delivering bombs on target, and was emotionally paralyzing to those on the ground because of the ram-air "Jericho trumpets" fitted to those faired main gear legs. It was also the carrier of nearly all of the Leica 250 GG Reporter cameras that were fitted with the MOOEV Leica-Motor and 250-frame film carriers.
The terrifying German WW2 "Stuka" (Junkers Ju 87 Sturzkampfflugzeug) dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft became a powerful propaganda symbol of German air power during the 1939-1942 Blitzkrieg of London. It was both deadly accurate in delivering bombs on target, and was emotionally paralyzing to those on the ground because of the ram-air "Jericho trumpets" fitted to those faired main gear legs. It was also the carrier of nearly all of the Leica 250 GG Reporter cameras that were fitted with the MOOEV Leica-Motor and 250-frame film carriers.

The Stuka was the only aircraft that made that distinctive trumpet-like sound as it dived and zeroed in on its target, and it was so effective at inducing fear that it is invariably used in any WW2 movie involving air-to-ground combat. If you were one of the unlucky ones on the ground, you knew that precisely-targeted bombs were incoming, so the sound chilled opposing combatants and civilians alike to the bone.

Watch the Stuka dive straight at its targets to ensure accuracy, and hear the terrifying sound that alerted ground personnel of incoming very bad news

The distinctive piercing sound and its easily recognizable inverted gull wings, resulted in "Stuka" becoming a household term in Britain, and an enduring and iconic symbol of WW2 for many decades thereafter.

Thanks to the difficulties in manufacturing these technological marvels 85 years ago, only 92 cameras were equipped with an electric motor drive MOOEV and used for aerial reconnaissance, and almost all of them ended up in Stukas.

That's one of the reasons they are now ready to breach the million-dollar mark – rarity.

Though the Stuka was pinpoint accurate in delivering its bombs, and scared the bejesus out of ground-based combatants, it was no match for the Supermarine Spitfire, P-51 Mustang, P-38 Lightning, F6F Hellcat, Hawker Hurricane or almost any of the Allied planes once the war got underway, and its attrition rate was appalling.

It seems those stylish booties that carried the landing gear and the ram air trumpets were not very aerodynamic, making the Stuka unwieldy and slow and too much of a handful in any air-to-air encounter.

Only 16 of the 92 units are thought to have survived the war.

Leitz Photographica's Auctions dominate the camera market

Leitz Photographica now sells almost all of the most expensive cameras in the world. Indeed, our records show that of the top 50 most expensive cameras ever sold at auction, Leitz Photographica is responsible for 48 of them – we can think of no other auction genre where one auctioneer is so entirely dominant.
Leitz Photographica now sells almost all of the most expensive cameras in the world. Indeed, our records show that of the top 50 most expensive cameras ever sold at auction, Leitz Photographica is responsible for 48 of them – we can think of no other auction genre where one auctioneer is so entirely dominant.

Twice annually, Leica Camera Classics, a subsidiary of Leica Camera, holds what is known as the Leitz Photographica Auction.

Held at Vienna’s Hotel Bristol, it has become the world’s largest vintage camera auction, and over the last two decades the Leitz Photographica Auction is entirely responsible for having elevated the world’s most important cameras into the same realm of collectibility and appreciation of technical excellence … and professional investment … as the art world.

Every single year the auctions have set world records as they have increasingly become a destination event for the cream of the world’s camera collectors and investors, and they have also come to serve as a reference point for the market value of historical cameras.

The 1839 Giroux Daguerréotype” was the first commercially-produced camera in the world and was the initial spark that started the wildfire spread of photography. More than 90% of adult humans now carry a digital camera in their pocket, but when this camera was manufactured in limited numbers by Alphones Giroux in Paris in 1839, it was one of the very first instruments capable of recording a photographic image. Leitz Photographica sold this camera in 2010 for €732,000 (US$897,578).
The 1839 Giroux Daguerréotype” was the first commercially-produced camera in the world and was the initial spark that started the wildfire spread of photography. More than 90% of adult humans now carry a digital camera in their pocket, but when this camera was manufactured in limited numbers by Alphones Giroux in Paris in 1839, it was one of the very first instruments capable of recording a photographic image. Leitz Photographica sold this camera in 2010 for €732,000 (US$897,578).

The auctions aren’t just for Leica cameras either, with a Giroux Daguerréotype from 1839 fetching €732,000 (US$897,578) in 2010, and a Susse Freres Daguerréotype fetching €576,000 (US$774,893) in 2007.

In 2007, Leitz Photographica sold this previously unknown sliding box Daguerreotype camera that was manufactured in 1839 by Susse Frères (the Susse Brothers), at 31 Place de la Bourse in Paris. Numerous experts attest that it is very likely the oldest commercially produced camera in the world. The camera fetched €576,000 (US$774,893) to become the most valuable camera ever sold at auction on 26 May 2007.
In 2007, Leitz Photographica sold this previously unknown sliding box Daguerreotype camera that was manufactured in 1839 by Susse Frères (the Susse Brothers), at 31 Place de la Bourse in Paris. Numerous experts attest that it is very likely the oldest commercially produced camera in the world. The camera fetched €576,000 (US$774,893) to become the most valuable camera ever sold at auction on 26 May 2007.

This year the first of the two Leitz Photographica Auctions of historical cameras and vintage camera accessories saw equally extraordinary results and in addition to the Leica 250 GG Reporter and MOOEV Leica-Motor that fetched €900,000 (including buyers premium) after a fierce bidding battle, a Leica M3 black paint "First Batch black dial" sold for €540,000 (US$580,446).

On 10 June 2023, this Leica M3 black paint "First Batch black dial" sold for €540,000 (US$580,446), becoming one of the 25 most expensive cameras ever sold at auction.
On 10 June 2023, this Leica M3 black paint "First Batch black dial" sold for €540,000 (US$580,446), becoming one of the 25 most expensive cameras ever sold at auction.

The previous record price for a Leica 250 GG Reporter fitted with a MOOEV Leica-Motor was set almost a decade ago in 2014 when one of the very first units produced (#6 of 92) was sold for €576,000 (US$785,088).

This is the previous auction price record holder for a Leica 250 GG Reporter fitted with a MOOEV Leica-Motor
This is the previous auction price record holder for a Leica 250 GG Reporter fitted with a MOOEV Leica-Motor

The next Leitz Photographica auction is scheduled to take place in Vienna on 24-25 November, 2023.

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CollectiblesLeicaLeitz Photographica
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Mike Hanlon
Mike Hanlon
As a photojournalist, Mike’s work has been published in a dozen languages across 20+ countries. He has edited or managed over 75 different print publications, each with a different target audience: sports, automotive, advertising, marketing, design, ad infinitum. Mike has been working in the internet for more than 25 years and was the veteran of five internet start-ups before founding New Atlas in 2002.

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