An extremely rare and very early double-stroke, black paint Leica M3 will go under the hammer in a sale of Photographica by Chiswick Auctions on Thursday 14th November, 2019.
This camera was delivered to the Magnum Photo Agency in Paris in 1958. Factory records show only 90 of these pre-series cameras were sent before the first official batch of black M3 rangefinders in 1959. It’s not known how many others are still in existence.
The majority were delivered to Sweden along with individual deliveries to Paris, New York and Germany. The serial number records it as the 15th black paint M3 camera to have been produced, and the second earliest example to be offered at auction. (The earliest example, the second of the batch, sold in 2014 for £320,000 in Hong Kong). This model has a conservative estimate of £60,000-£80,000, but, due to its popularity and rarity, it is expected to achieve much more.
Engineer Amos Dudley has merge an age-old craft with cutting-edge technology and created the world’s first fully 3D printed, interchangeable lens camera. He’s sharing the design files on Pinshape so those with 3d printers can also create the camera.
Details of how the camera was made from concept to creation are here SLO 3D printed Camera
The Travelwide, due for release Summer 2014, weighs just 275 grams making it lighter than a DSLR and the lightest 5×4 ever made.
It has an impact-resistant glass-filled ABS construction with a high-precision focusing screen from 0.55m to infinity using the Schneider Angulon 90mm ƒ/6.8 lens (not included).
There are three accessory shoes to mount bubble levels, rangefinders or viewfinders and a standard tripod mount.
The camera has a guide price of $149 and comes with a metal sport-finder and a Pinwide pinhole lens.
It accepts standard 5×4 film holders and Polaroid 545i holders
More info at Wanderlust Cameras