This camera just sold for $2.19 million
VIENNA (AP) - An Austrian photo gallery says a camera used by a photographer who documented the life of artist Pablo Picasso has sold for a world record price of €1.68 million ($2.19 million).
The Westlicht gallery says the Leica m3d belonged to David Douglas Duncan. The 96-year-old former photographer for LIFE magazine was a close friend of Picasso and published hundreds of exclusive photos of him.
Manufactured in 1955, the camera is one of four ever made, and the price is a world record for a commercially produced camera.
In a statement Monday, Westlicht says the second-highest price in the Saturday's sale was for a gold-plated Leica made in 1929, which sold for €1.02 million ($1.3 million).
The Westlicht gallery says the Leica m3d belonged to David Douglas Duncan. The 96-year-old former photographer for LIFE magazine was a close friend of Picasso and published hundreds of exclusive photos of him.
Manufactured in 1955, the camera is one of four ever made, and the price is a world record for a commercially produced camera.
In a statement Monday, Westlicht says the second-highest price in the Saturday's sale was for a gold-plated Leica made in 1929, which sold for €1.02 million ($1.3 million).
I have a Pre-WWII Wirgin Edinex Infra-Red 35mm Gernany Cammera with case. It also has a Zoom Lens. Maybe I should take it to Auction. My camera was made before the war and did not have the swastika on it.
Ah yes, the good old days of cameras using film, where the photographer provided the brains, not just the ability to point and click. Instant gratification in the form of seeing the digital image immediately had to await development of the negative!
 @jpkÂ
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I just ogt my wife her first DSLR.
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She shot 8 gigs of "film" in her first 8 hours LOL. She said "now I don't feel guilty every time I take a picture". I took that as meaning she wanted every image to be worth the cost of development.
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So good photographers are still the brain. If you want proof look at some of the images people take and compare yourself.
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 @jpk I still shoot film.  I refuse to let it go.
@RatchetRanger @jpk I'm with ya Ratch, I still have my Pentax K-1000. The new cameras are sweet but ability and imagination are lost.
@RatchetRanger @jpk  Good for you. That is a true art form.