Got brass in pocket?

We’d have needed deep pockets to snag one of the covetable Leica items for sale last month in the 42nd Leitz Photographica

Auction in Vienna, which witnessed a wide variety of vintage cameras, lenses and photographs sold. Stand-out sales this year include that of a Leica 250 GG Reporter that fetched the event’s highest price at €900,000, while a Leica M3 black paint, first batch with black dial (above) was auctioned for €540,000.

One of the auction’s recurring elements is the charity lot, which sees rare kit auctioned for a good cause. This year the gear in question was a Leica M11 ‘Brass’, inspired by a Hollywood star with an affinity for photography. Only two M11’s with an exterior fashioned in brass – and therefore displaying signs of use much more quickly than conventional aluminium models –were produced, the one shown bagging a whopping €72,000 for charity. All stated prices are inclusive of the buyer’s premium. www.leica-camera.com www.leitz-auction.com