auction

Bidding War Helps Hasselblad Sell 2 Lunar Cameras for $54K at Charity Auction

Still think there's no market for overpriced Hasselblad Sony clones? This might change your mind. Thanks to a heated bidding war at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance exotic car festival, two ... we'll call them generous... generous gentlemen paid $54,500 for two Hasselblad Lunar cameras that would normally run $14,000 retail.

The Only Camera NASA Ever Brought Back from the Moon Will Soon be Auctioned Off

Update: According to collectSPACE, this might not have been the only camera brought back from the moon. Check out the update at the bottom for details.

A total of fourteen Hasselblad cameras made it to the moon on the Apollo missions; but of those 14, only one ever made it back. And now, that one camera is going to go home with a lucky (and rich) collector pending an auction at WestLicht in Vienna on March 21st.

Ultra-Rare 2000mm f/11 Nikkor Lens Up On eBay for $25K… Broken

The last time we wrote about the Nikkor 2000mm f/11 C Reflex lens was in 2010 when a working version of the behemoth was up on eBay for the not-so-affordable price of $19,950. Given that information, how much would you pay for a broken, beat-up version of the same lens 3 years later? Well, someone on eBay thinks it's worth $25K.

Mark Newson and Jony Ive Talk About the One-of-a-Kind Leica M (RED) Camera

We've heard a lot about the Leica M (RED) edition created by design gurus Mark Newson and Jony Ive, but up until now it's all been press release information. Now, we have a video in which both Newson and Ive talk a little bit about the creations they've put together for the upcoming Sotheby's (RED) auction on November 23rd, including a section about the aforementioned camera.

Leica That Shot ‘V-J Day in Times Square’ Photo Fetches $150K at Auction

Next time a significant other bugs you about how much you spend on photo gear, remind them how much worse it could be if you were into vintage kit.

Such as the 1931 Leica IIIa shown above, owned by the great Alfred Eisenstaedt and used to shoot everything from his iconic V-J Day image of a sailor kissing a girl in Times Square to a portrait session with President Bill Clinton. The camera sold at Vienna auction house last weekend for 114,000 Euros, equivalent to $147,117.

Pink PocketWizard Units Being Auctioned Off to Benefit Breast Cancer Victims

A little over a year ago, we shared the story of photographer Bob Carey and his wife, a breast cancer survivor. Over the past year, Carey and his Project Tutu have done a great deal to raise awareness for breast cancer. By going around the world and photographing himself in a pink tutu (and nothing else), he's done a lot to further the cause for breast cancer victims and their families.

Digital Camera Exchange: A New Place to Buy and Sell Used Photography Gear

Buying and selling used photography gear usually involves either driving to your local camera shop or hunting down the right product on website such as eBay or (if you're really brave) Craigslist. But Australian photographers just got a different, photography centered option thrown their way.

Dubbed Digital Camera Exchange, the new website gives photo enthusiasts a place to sell their gear to others in much the same way they would on big auction sites such as eBay.

Rare 1941 Class Photo of Marilyn Monroe to be Auctioned Off Next Month

An old class photo taken in 1941 at Ralph Waldo Emerson Junior High School is about to be auctioned off, and it's set to fetch quite a price. Why, you ask? Well, because a girl by the name of Norma Jeane Baker -- who later became famous as Marilyn Monroe -- both signed and was in the picture.

‘Kiss in Times Square’ Photo and Camera Both Up for Auction at WestLicht

At the end of May, a signed copy of one of the most iconic photos ever taken, and the camera that took it, will both go on sale at the WestLicht Photographica Auction. The photo is a signed print of the iconic V-J Day "Kiss in Times Square" photograph taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt, and the camera is the Leica IIIa rangefinder that he used right up until the day he died.

NYC Auction Houses Sell $30.8M in Photo Auctions in One Week, Set Records

In the first week of April, the three major auction houses in New York managed to post over $30 million in photography sales, showing that the photography as collectible market is thriving, to say the least. The houses posted a record-setting week as almost every auction blew away projected sale prices.

Photog Who Shot Beatles Concert With a Fake Press Pass Sells the Pics for $45K

In 1965, amateur photographer Marc Weinstein used a fake press pass to get police to escort him stage-side at the historic Beatles concert in Shea Stadium. Now, almost 50 years later, he has sold all 61 of the images he captured there for a whopping £30,000 (or about $45,500). The story involves a little bit of bravery, a little bit of trickery, and a lot of luck.

Massive 1,000+ Piece Camera Collection Being Auctioned on eBay

Want to own a giant collection of vintage cameras, but don't want to spend a lifetime acquiring them one by one? If you have deep pockets and money to burn, here's your shot: collector Brain Cue of Alameda, California (kka20101 on eBay) is selling his massive camera collection that he has spent over 50 years building up.

Kodak Patent Bids Exceed $500M: Slow Climb Out of Bankruptcy Continues

Over the last year, no news has been good news for Eastman Kodak. The company's slow and painful climb out of bankruptcy has involved everything from corporate greed to lost patent wars and sub-par auction outcomes. But just a few weeks ago a flickering light emerged at the end of the tunnel for Kodak in the form of $793M in conditional financing.

In fact, since we last reported on the story, the loan amount has gotten even bigger. That sizable $793M has been upped to $830M, every dime of which Kodak desperately needs to get its hands on if it ever intends to escape bankruptcy. But as the saying goes: there's no such thing as a free lunch -- and definitely not one worth $830M. The banks that have agreed to help Kodak out made the financing conditional: Kodak doesn't get the money unless the company's long-awaited patent sale exceeds $500M.

Photo of Iceberg that Sank the Titanic to Be Auctioned, Expected to Fetch $10K

On the night of April 14th, 1912, the Titanic collided with a massive iceberg and sank, ending the lives of more than 1,000 people and becoming one of the deadliest maritime disasters in history. Now, one hundred years later, a photo that may the only surviving print showing that infamous chunk of ice is going up for auction. It's expected to fetch up to $10,000.

Most Expensive Production Camera and First Leica M Sold at Auction

Back in May, a 1923 Leica O-Series camera became the most expensive camera on the planet after being sold for roughly $2.79 million at a WestLicht auction. That camera was a prototype camera, and just one of 25 made (only 12 of them exist today). If you're wondering what the most expensive non-prototype camera is, look no further than the latest WestLicht auction that was held earlier today. The Leica M3D seen above fetched a staggering €1.68 million, or roughly $2.18 million, becoming "the most expensive camera from a serial production ever."

University Unloading Its Film Photography Gear At Ridiculous Prices

Clemson University is apparently ditching film photography and going digital. The public South Carolina-based school has just turned to government surplus auctions to unload its analog gear, and the equipment is being snatched up for ridiculously low prices. The lot of 9 "excellent condition" Hasselblad 500 EL/M medium format camera bodies seen above was just sold for $1,200, which comes out to about $133 for each camera (granted, there are some taxes and processing fees tacked on).

Usain Bolt Nikon D4 Auction Nuked by eBay After Hitting $11,600

Well, that was abrupt. On Tuesday, we wrote that the Nikon D4 that Usain Bolt had famously used after winning an Olympic gold medal was up for auction on eBay, with the proceeds going toward educational and cancer research charities. After the story was reported worldwide, the high bid quickly rose until it hit $11,600 today. Then suddenly, it was gone.

Nikon D4 Used by Usain Bolt at London Olympics Goes Up for Auction

Usain Bolt ran beyond the boundaries of sports and made headlines in the world of photography earlier this year at the London Olympics. After winning yet another gold in his 200m race, he ran over to Scandinavian newspaper photographer Jimmy Wixtröm, grabbed his Nikon D4, and began shooting some awesome photographs of what he was experiencing.

Wixtröm just sent us an email with some neat news: the famous D4 is now being auctioned with the proceeds going to charity.

Photobook of North American Indians Set to Fetch Millions at Auction

Behold: one of the rarest photobooks in the world. What you're looking at is an exceedingly rare complete set of American photographer Edward S. Curtis' book The North American Indian. It contains 772 large-format photogravures on Japanese tissue, 111 signed plates, and 20 extra text volumes that contain an additional 1,505 photogravures, 4 maps, and 2 diagrams.

Swann Galleries will be auctioning it off on October 4, 2012 with an estimated price of $1,250,000 - $1,750,000. This figure, however, may end up being much lower than the actual price it'll sell for. A similar set of this photobook was auctioned by Christie's back in April. After giving that set an estimated price of $1,000,000 - $1,500,000, it ended up selling for a whopping $2,882,500.

This is What Camera Shops Looked Like a Century Ago

Check out this photo showing the inside of a camera shop (and pharmacy) from 1910. It's the image on a postcard that's currently being auctioned over on eBay (with a starting bid of $100) by a seller named 2raccoons. Here's the description:

Up for auction is this extraordinary photograph of a woman in standard Gibson dress standing at a store counter purchasing a Kodak folding camera. The store employee is wearing a jacket and bow-tie which adds charm to the photograph. It is uncertain if the woman is actually buying the Kodak camera, or if the scene here is "staged," but $25 is about what one would have paid for the Kodak folding camera at that time, which can be seen on the cash register.

$25 for a top-of-the-line camera. Not bad. Add a couple zeros to that price and you'll get what many DSLRs are selling for these days.

It’s the End of the Road for Ritz and Wolf Camera Stores

The Internet has won, and the United States' largest camera store chain will soon go the way of the Polaroid camera. We reported earlier tonight that the entire chain of Wolf Stores was slated to be liquidated, but it turns out the damage doesn't end there. A second source has now confirmed that the shutdowns go all the way up, and include Ritz Camera stores as well (Ritz Camera owns Wolf Camera).

Getty Images Auction Draw Bids of $4 Billion

Photo agency Getty Images is on the auction block, in a second round of bids that are climbing towards $4 billion for a potential sale. Investment firm KKR & Co. and private equity investment firm TPG are on the list of at least five interested bidders, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Largest Photo Book Ever Published Sells for £330,000 at Auction

The largest photo book ever published sold yesterday at the Bonhams Book, Maps, Manuscripts and Historical Photographs sale in London. The book is made up of 20, un-enlarged prints of Egypt, Sinai and Jerusalem taken by renowned English photographer Francis Frith that each measure a colossal 30in x 21in. To give you some perspective, we've superimposed a picture of Canon's new T4i (to scale) onto the picture from the book itself. As you can see, these are some big prints.

Print Auction Raises Over $100,000 for Slain Photojournalist’s Kids

The Friends of Anton is an organization that has come together over the past year to ensure the future of slain South African photojournalist Anton Hammerl’s three children; and 3 days ago the organization in partnership with Christie's held the latter's first ever auction of contemporary photojournalism prints, raising over $100,000 towards their touching cause.