: The third sale of cameras from the collection of the late James
A. Collins, Jr, conducted by Everard and Company, brought a total
of $708,000 (including buyer's premium) and brought record prices
for rare items, with 95 percent of lots sold. "The star of the
auction was an extremely rare Leica MP-2 camera with motor and
two battery packs," says Chris Everard. "Only 27 cameras and 15
motors are known to have been produced. Something like this comes
up once in a collector's lifetime, and it set an Internet auction
record of $86,250.
"There were several interesting trends in this auction,"
continued Everard. "First, many of the bidders were firms that
had actually sold Collins the original items. In addition, the
quality and volume of items in the sale would in the past have
been consigned to major European camera auction houses; many of
the bidders we spoke to mentioned how much they enjoyed the ease
- and 'fun,' as several commented - of the iGavel internet
auction."
Leica Noctilux 50mm f/1.2 chrome prototype lens, went for
$30,538.
Collins, who put together the collection over the past 30
years, was an engineer and was fascinated by camera systems and how
they worked. Although he liked photography, his main interest was
in the technical aspects of cameras and their accessories and had a
large library of camera related material. "The collection consisted
of more than 1,800 pieces and was housed in 120 tightly packed
Lexan air-tight boxes," says Everard. "After realizing the
significant historical and rare nature of the collection, we
enlisted James A. Lager, a respected Leica historian and author, to
act as consultant."
Items ranged from late 1920s to late 1990s. Most were Leica
equipment with examples of production bodies and lenses as well
as preproduction prototypes, cutaways and dummy models; in
addition, the collection contained Zeiss Ikon, Nikon, Rollei,
Canon, Voightlander and Kodak equipment dating from the same time
period.
Some of the other rare items that were sold were a Leica Noctilux
50mm f/1.2 chrome prototype lens that sold for $30,538, and a
Leica Summaron Compur 35mm f/3.5 chrome lens, the only one known
to exist, that sold for $25,555.
Some items in the sale were designed for the US government,
including an Leica Elcan 90mm f/1 black lens for electro-optical
night photography that brought $24,725, and a rare Leica
underwater housing and M1 chrome, which sold for $8,913.
Leica Elcan 90mm f/1 black lens brought $24,725.
A Leica Wetzlar 72 camera sold for $14,400. Only 33 models
are known to have been produced and this is a Betriebsk (internal
works) camera, which increased its rarity. Two lots of special
Leica If Swedish Crown marine reconnaissance outfits with
consecutive serial numbers, designed for the Swedish military; the
first lot, a chrome with a 250mm 5.5 Meyer Tele-Megor lens, sold
for $13,353; the second lot, a chrome with a 240mm 4.5 Schneider
Tele-Xenar lens, brought $12,191.
The fourth and final sale of camera equipment from the Collins
estate will be held on iGavel in the fall, concurrent with an
auction of classic cameras and equipment from various owners at
Everard and Company.
For more information, 912-231-1376, info@EverardandCompany.com or
www.iGavel.com.
