4th Leica M3 To Come Off The 1954 Production Line Is Up For Sale, Guide Price: 50k - 60k Euros

One of the earliest Leica M3 cameras to be produced is going up for sale at a camera auction in Vienna and it's estimated to fetch 50,000 - 60,000 Euros. 

The Leica M3, with the serial number 700004, is still in its original condition and after the M3 No. 700001, previously auctioned by WestLicht for 900,000 Euros, it is the earliest M3 known to exist.

Among the other auction lots are a very early Leica I with an Elmax lens (estimated value 10,000 - 12,000 Euros) and a black-varnish Leica IIIf manufactured as part of a very small series for the Swedish Army in 1956 (estimated value 40,000 - 50,000 Euros).

Another highly sought-after collectors' item is the half-format Leica built for 72 exposures in Wetzlar. Only 30 of these cameras left the factory, and the last of them to be delivered come to this auction with an estimated value of 30,000 to 35,000 Euros.

There's also a Leica M3D-100 up for sale featuring black varnish and a matching Summilux lens and it is estimated to fetch 50,000 - 60,000 Euros when it goes under the hammer on 11 June 2016 at the WestLicht Auction House in Vienna. A special-edition copy of the M3D sold previously by the auction house fetched a world-record price of 1,800,000 Euros. The camera was created in homage to the famous photographer David Douglas Duncan using the last available original parts from 1956 and was one of the first cameras equipped with the rapidwinder Leicavit.

Many other cameras, including rare special series, prototypes, lenses and accessories round out the offerings of approximately 200 Leica lots.

For more information, visit the WestLicht Auction House website. 

Other historical cameras to be sold at auction include the first Hasselblad to be used in space which sold for 281,250 Dollars (USA) and a collection of rare Rolleiflex prototype cameras that had a guide price of 177,950 ​Dollars (USA) on the auction site eBay. If you're a fan of newer Leica cameras, take a look at our preview of the Leica X-U (Typ 113) over in reviews.