A Leica 0-Series camera made in 1923 sold for €4.25 million at the eighth Wetzlar Camera Auctions sale, held in Wetzlar on Saturday, 10 October. The house's catalog had estimated it at €1.5 million to €2 million. The result, including buyer's premium, and the camera's serial number, 103, are as reported by Leica Rumors and DCFever, which cite the auction house; as of 14 October, Wetzlar Camera Auctions had not posted results on its own site. [Verify against the house's published results before publication.]
The 0-Series was Leitz's trial batch. According to Leica's own account, the company built probably 23 of them in 1923 and 1924, before the first production cameras went on sale in the mid-1920s. Leica calls the production camera that followed the first successful 35mm camera. Reports of this sale say about 16 survive.
The price is high by any ordinary measure and not exceptional by this one. In June 2022 another of the batch, No. 105, sold for €14.4 million, premium included, at the 40th Leitz Photographica Auction, which Leica announced at the time as a world record for any camera.
Source: Wetzlar Camera Auctions — Auction 8, 10 October 2026
GP