Oscar Barnack's very own Leica 0-Series no.105 from the Leitz Museum in Wetzlar is being auctioned

[sabears]

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vor einer Stunde schrieb willeica:

Relying on the lack of knowledge or even the charity of thieves might not be a good overall strategy in the long term. But, if you want to walk around the streets taking photographs with an old camera, there are a lot of cheaper alternatives than spending 3 million Euros on an historical artefact. This one is not necessarily a ‘better’ camera because of its price, but it is a ‘better’ collector’s piece because of its rarity and provenance and the price paid will reflect that. 

I suspect that most people would wonder why anyone would spend such a sum on a camera. Some of this is down to the difference between ‘need’ and ‘want’, which is difficult to explain in any collecting context. 

I hope you enjoy my article when it appears. 
 

William 

Totally agree: just as there are more effective but FAR less expensive ways to defend oneself than this...

https://worldart.news/2021/11/04/100-million-samurai-tachi-the-most-expensive-sword-in-the-world/

 

 

[Guest]

vor 3 Stunden schrieb willeica:

... I suspect that most people would wonder why anyone would spend such a sum on a camera. ...

Me too - because it's just an old technical device made of metal, screws and some other cheap materials, not a work of art, not a Picasso, not a Stradivari.

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[willeica]

54 minutes ago, mnutzer said:

Me too - because it's just an old technical device made of metal, screws and some other cheap materials, not a work of art, not a Picasso, not a Stradivari.

A different kind of work of art which was the progenitor of millions of 35mm cameras (not just Leicas) for the next 80 years. Collecting is not just limited to arts, but also includes items that could produce art. The fact that it is an 'old technical device' ( like the Samurai sword linked above) perhaps makes it even more valuable.  Without this, we would have no Leicas to play with today.  Also, without this, Ernst Leitz and his team would have not decided to 'take the risk' in 1924. To judge just this as an old camera made out of metal and screws etc is to miss the point completely. You might as well ask why they did not put in IBIS in 1923 😀.

William 

[Guest]

vor 13 Minuten schrieb willeica:

...

Well, we will never agree on this.
When millionaires squander their fortunes like this, I get only strongly socialist thoughts, at least enormous luxury taxes should be levied on such transactions.
But let's leave that, such considerations are not welcomed here, especially since Leica itself is currently owned by an oligarch.

[sabears]

Piece & Love 💓

https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/gandhi-glasses-letterbox-scli-gbr-intl/index.html

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/mahatma-gandhis-sandals-up-for-auction-in-britain-521805

 

[zeitz]

1 hour ago, mnutzer said:

When millionaires squander their fortunes like this

The buyer will hardly consider this purchase to squander anything.

This is a high grade investment.  The buyer will likely receive an appreciable gain when he decides to resell in the future.  The gain will also likely outperform any other investment he might consider.

Both the seller and the buyer will pay significant taxes.  The US seller will pay taxes on his gains at the highest tax rate possible under the current tax laws, regardless of who in the world buys it.  I assume a buyer in the EU would pay VAT.  Hopefully a US buyer could have the camera delivered from the owner in the US so he does not have to pay duty to reimport it.  Most states will also claim sales tax (called Use Tax) on this purchase.  Finally, if the current administration in the US gets its way, unrealized capital gains would be taxed.  So one could do better owning collectibles instead of securities.

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vor 10 Minuten schrieb zeitz:

...

Apparently the taxes are still far too low to prevent such nonsensical transactions.

[willeica]

9 hours ago, mnutzer said:

Apparently the taxes are still far too low to prevent such nonsensical transactions.

Every day of the year someone somewhere is paying large amounts of money for properties, art pieces, luxury cars, yachts, racehorses etc, etc, etc. If one disapproves of this, there is a lot of disapproving to do. Yes, we all feel that our own taxes are too high, of course, and we should all probably do more to assist those who are less well off. I hear very few people saying that their own taxes are too low, it is always someone else that should be paying more tax.

My article is currently with an editor/website owner, but when it appears you will see that it is not all about the price, although I do point to the last two examples that were sold. As vintage Leica collectors and enthusiasts, the interesting thing about an auction like this is that it allows a very interesting historical piece to pass before our gaze for a few weeks/months, before it is sold on to a private buyer. It also sat for a few months late last year in the Ernst Leitz museum in Wetzlar, where I saw it last September. The person who currently owns this item is, of course, perfectly entitled to do what he/she wants with it.

William 

[sabears]

Freud introduced the concept of interest and envy of the penis in his 1908, year before Barnack prototype...😄

[zeitz]

11 hours ago, mnutzer said:

nonsensical transactions

So investment in anything = bad?   Would you expect people to get more enjoyment by holding shares of General Motors stock in their hand or by owning a collectible or by living in a huge house?

[willeica]

4 hours ago, sabears said:

Freud introduced the concept of interest and envy of the penis in his 1908, year before Barnack prototype...😄

I won a 'half ball race' Leica IIIc at auction this morning. A real (check it, they do exist) camera, but a concept to conjure with and reminiscent of this WW II song https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_Has_Only_Got_One_Ball

William 

[sabears]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb willeica:

I won a 'half ball race' Leica IIIc at auction this morning. A real (check it, they do exist) camera, but a concept to conjure with and reminiscent of this WW II song https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_Has_Only_Got_One_Ball

William 

Simply GREAT!🤣

[Anbaric]

On 4/23/2022 at 4:55 PM, willeica said:

I won a 'half ball race' Leica IIIc at auction this morning. A real (check it, they do exist) camera, but a concept to conjure with and reminiscent of this WW II song https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_Has_Only_Got_One_Ball

William 

Don't miss this docudrama that tells the fascinating story of how the song came to be written:

 

[willeica]

Now back to the serious stuff, my article is here, at last:

https://www.macfilos.com/2022/04/26/oskar-one-zero-five-comes-in-loud-and-clear/#comment-52583

Any comments on my editor's concerns about the meaning of 'R' in German would be appreciated.

William 

[Studienkamera]

4 hours ago, willeica said:

Any comments on my editor's concerns about the meaning of 'R' in German would be appreciated.

Just repeating here what I already wrote on Macfilos:

“Ruckwand” (or better “Rückwand”) may just refer to the back door when used in connection with a camera. I agree that this hardly makes sense in this case. Well, one probably could construct a sentence like removing the “Rückwand” after rewinding the film, but that seems a bit far-fetched. As a native German speaker, I agree with Mike that “Rückspulen” is the most likely candidate for “R”.

[pippy]

On 4/22/2022 at 10:42 PM, mnutzer said:

...it's just an old technical device made of metal, screws and some other cheap materials, not a work of art, not a Picasso, not a Stradivari.

A Stradivarius is just an old device made of wood, hide-glue and some other cheap materials. A painting by Picasso is just an old, decorative, wall-hanging panel made-up of canvas, paint, wood and some other cheap materials.

I contend that the camera in question - like any Stradivarius and works by Picasso - is  a work of art and, furthermore, is of similar cultural importance.

Philip.

Edited April 26, 2022 by pippy

[willeica]

6 hours ago, pippy said:

A Stradivarius is just an old device made of wood, hide-glue and some other cheap materials. A painting by Picasso is just an old, decorative, wall-hanging panel made-up of canvas, paint, wood and some other cheap materials.

I contend that the camera in question - like any Stradivarius and works by Picasso - is  a work of art and, furthermore, is of similar cultural importance.

Philip.

Thanks Philip. Defining what is art is always a contentious business. This item was designed to create art and it and its descendants did do this. Engineering, particularly of the innovative kind, can also be art. Here we have an innovative design which influenced millions of later 35mm cameras and this one was used by the innovator himself.  
 

William 

[mmx_2]

On 4/1/2022 at 6:47 PM, Herr Barnack said:

If it does not sell for $5 million USDs, I will be surprised - but then we are in the middle of a global recession/depression/whatever it is.

If I had Pharaoh money, I'd buy it and leave it in the Leica museum on long term loan, with the proviso that I would be able to come to Wetzlar a couple times a year and take it out to shoot a few rolls of street photography.  A camera like that should still be used and not spend its life as a safe queen.

Couldn't agree more! You should add "Indiana Jones: - This belongs in a museum" to your qoute list ;).

 

[wizard]

vor 16 Stunden schrieb willeica:

Any comments on my editor's concerns about the meaning of 'R' in German would be appreciated.

William,

I am a native German speaker. The capital letter 'R' is commonly used on (German) film cameras to denote the position, in which the film may be rewound. Since this letter is used in its capital form, my understanding is that it is an abbreviation of the German noun 'Rückspulung' (rewind) or 'Rückspulstellung' (rewind position). However, verbs are sometimes used in German language in a noun like fashion. In the present case, the action of rewinding may be referred to as 'das Rückspulen' (the rewinding), so that 'R' may also stand for 'Rückspulen'. In any case, 'R' does not stand for 'Rückwand' (rear wall). 

Summing up, 'R' stands for either the noun 'Rückspulung' or the noun-like verb 'Rückspulen', both of which mean the same action, namely the (film) rewinding operation.

Hope this clarifies things a bit.

Cheers,

Andreas

Edit: On an unrelated note, I just stumbled across something in your article. You say that 

Slit width in mm – fraction of a second = effective shutter speed

2 – 1/500s

5 – 1/200s

10 – 1/100s

20 -1/50s

50 – 1/25s

But how can there be a slit width of 50mm if the entire width of the film window is just 36mm (or thereabout)?

Edited April 27, 2022 by wizard
addition of text

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Hallo,

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[luigi bertolotti]

12 hours ago, pippy said:

A Stradivarius is just an old device made of wood, hide-glue and some other cheap materials. A painting by Picasso is just an old, decorative, wall-hanging panel made-up of canvas, paint, wood and some other cheap materials.

I contend that the camera in question - like any Stradivarius and works by Picasso - is  a work of art and, furthermore, is of similar cultural importance.

Philip.

Correct, but value for collecting is driven by cultural importance AND rarity - uniqueness... there are hundreds of Stradivarius and Picasso's... much more than 0-series , and just one, or two (see Will article quoting #112) belonged to Barnack (even if is possible that all of them passed through his hands...)