“The serial production of the Leitz Camera, or Leica for short, the world’s first 35mm camera, is considered a milestone of modern photography. Before the first cameras were available in the mid-1920s, Ernst Leitz produced around 23 models of the prototype 0 series in 1923 and 1924. One of these rare cameras – the 0-series no. 105 – has now been sold at the 40th Leitz Photographica Auction for a price of € 14.4 million (about $15 million) including buyers premium. The 105 has thus broken the world record for the most expensive camera of all times.

Number 105 belonged to Oskar Barnack, who had designed the “Liliput camera” shortly before the First World War. It was the prototype of the Leica and thus also the prototype of the 35 mm camera per se. Barnack captured numerous motifs from his family life with the 0 series No. 105. He used the experience he gained in the process in the further development of the camera and its subsequent models. Barnack’s name is engraved on the top of the viewfinder of no.105.

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The historical significance of the camera and its direct connection to Barnack were reflected in its pre-determined estimate of 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 euros. “To put these numbers into perspective: The most expensive camera in the world to date – also a 0-series, serial number 122 – was sold at the 32nd Leitz Photographica Auction in 2018 for 2.4 million euros including buyers premium,” said Alexander Sedlak, Managing Director of Leica Camera Classics, an Austrian subsidiary of Leica Camera AG. Leitz Photographica Auction operates under the umbrella of Leica Camera Classics.

“We are fully specialised in historical cameras and accessories. It was therefore a special pleasure for us to be able to auction Oskar Barnack’s personal camera, a prototype of the camera generation that laid the foundation for modern photography in the mid-1920s, as part of our anniversary auction,” said Sedlak. The intangible value – the historical significance – of 0 series no.105 goes far beyond the sum of € 14.4 million for which this camera was ultimately sold. Nevertheless, the world record sum proves the continuous trend of the last few years: “The prices are rising – the interest in vintage cameras is greater than ever before.” (Leica)

The picture above is not of the actual camera. Rather it’s a photograph of a replica introduced by Leica in the year 2,000. Out of production now for some time it can be found used for around a mere $2,000.

I started collecting cameras around 2011. My first serious camera was a Minolta Hi-Matic 7sII given to me by my late wife. So I thought I would focus my collection on compact rangefinder cameras (e.g. Canon G-III, Olympus 35 RC etc.). After acquiring a number of these I switched to full size rangefinder cameras (FEDs, Zorkis, Canon P, Nikon S2 etc. I even got a Leica) What then followed were forays into classic SLRs (e.g. Nikon F, F2 etc.); autofocus SLRs (e.g. Nikon N90x, Canon Eos Elan II, Minolta Dynax 5 etc.); Medium Format cameras (e.g. Rolleiflex, Minolta Autocord etc.). I even picked up a number of Point and Shoot cameras (e.g. Olympus Stylus, Olympus Stylus Epic, Olympus XA2 etc.

Recently I started to think about what other kinds of cameras I could collect. Then I noticed that somewhere along the line I’d acquired a few bakelite cameras, two of which appear above (a Kodak Bullet) and below (a Kodak Baby Brownie). Maybe I’ll collect some of these. Why? They’re usually quite inexpensive; many of them have lovely art deco designs; I love the shiny (usually but not always) black plastic.

So what is bakelite and how was it used in cameras:

THE FIRST TRULY SYNTHETIC PLASTIC
In 1907 Leo Hendrick Baekeland, a Belgian chemist working in New York, invented the first entirely synthetic plastic. It was a thermosetting phenolic resin patented in 1907 under the name Bakelite. It was made by combining phenol and formaldehyde using heat and pressure. Once the resin hardened, it could not be re-melted by the application of heat. This discovery was of profound importance and effectively gave birth to the modern plastics industry.

BAKELITE CAMERAS
Camera makers soon realized that the properties of this phenolic resin were ideally suited for the use in cameras. Bakelite was opaque, sturdy, durable and could be moulded to any shape. Early Bakelite cameras tended to be phenolic imitations of their metal and cardboard counterparts. However, in 1934 something truly remarkable happened. The industrialist Walter Dorwin Teague designed a camera that was better suited to the characteristics of the new material. This was the Baby Brownie – a black phenolic box with a distinctive vertical ribbing.

Other great designs followed. The Agfa Trolix of 1936 had curved size sides, rounded corners, decorative ribs and a shiny surface all typical of the 1930s streamlining. It is made from Trolitan plastic which is the German equivalent of Bakelite. Such features would have been very difficult to realise in metal.

Another outstanding design of the period was the 1937 Purma Special. This camera took the form of an elegant curved and tapered rectangular case of Bakelite. Unlike most other models the film advance mechanism, shutter lever and shutter release button did not protrude from the body. Again, these features would have been more difficult and costly to realise in metal. (Art Deco Cameras)

Taken with an Apple iPhone 8 (second version).