The results from the last Wetzlar Camera Auctions are now available online and a Nikon L rangefinder camera prototype from 1947/1948 with a Leica screw mount set a new world record price for a Nikon camera at $470,000 (€397,900):
“The early prototype of a NIKON L rangefinder camera with a Leica screw mount achieved a particularly spectacular result. Two customers who were connected by phone engaged in an exciting bidding war so that the hammer finally went down at a fabulous EUR 397,900 for this camera. This is the highest price ever achieved at auction for a Nikon camera in the world.” (press release)
“Lot 239 – Nikon L (1947/48): experimental Nikon 35 mm camera from the time of the very early prototyping, when it was yet to decide, whether to go for a Leica screw mount or for the “Contax” bayonet. No other specimen of such an early Nikon prototype camera with Leica screw mount has ever surfaced.” (auction listing)
Via LeicaRumors
