A palm-sized prototype camera that Leica built in the 1950s goes to auction at the end of this month. It is called the Leica BOX. Two are known to exist, and the one being sold is the only one whose shutter actually works.
On November 28, the 49th Leitz Photographica Auction takes place at Leica Welt in Wetzlar, Germany. It is a collectors' camera auction held in the city where Leica has its headquarters, and this time more than 400 lots are on offer. Most are Leicas, though cameras from other makers are mixed in. We picked three that anyone who shoots film may want to look at.
Leica BOX, a Leica built around Agfa's film cassette
The Leica BOX is a prototype from the mid-1950s. It is a half-frame camera that splits each 35mm frame in two to shoot 18×24mm images, and it takes film loaded in Agfa's Karat cassettes.
Karat was the system Agfa introduced in 1936 to compete with Kodak's 135 film. Instead of rewinding exposed film into its original cassette, the camera winds it into an empty one. The cassettes have no central spool and are shorter than 135 cassettes. In 1964 Agfa reissued a slightly modified version under the name Rapid.
It measures about 100mm wide, 64mm tall and 48mm deep. The chrome body is covered in black leatherette, and its styling follows the Leica M series of the same period. The lens is a fixed Summaron 35mm f/3.5. The ring around the lens doubles as the release for the base plate, and the shutter speed control sits in the middle of the top plate. The body is engraved with serial number 000.01.
The other example is a design study fitted with a 28mm Summaron. It does not work and is kept by Leica in Wetzlar. The auction house says the shutter on this one works properly and the optics are clear. In its press release, Leica called the camera one of the standout rarities in its history. The estimate is €400,000 to €500,000, with a starting price of €200,000.
Why did Leica try building a small camera around another company's cassette? The auction description doesn't say. The format, though, is getting attention again. Recent film cameras such as the Pentax 17 and the Kodak Ektar H35N use the same 18×24mm half frame (see "Six new film compacts").
Kiev SKD, a camera built to photograph the Moon
The second is a camera the Soviet Union built for its lunar program. The Arsenal factory in Kyiv (then Kiev) made a small number in 1968 and 1969, and this one dates from 1969. The serial number 6900008 appears on the body and on both film magazines.
It is based on the factory's Kiev-6C medium format SLR. Where a regular Kiev takes 120 film, this one takes 70mm film perforated on both edges and shoots 50×50mm frames. Each magazine holds about 100 exposures, or up to 180 on thin-base film. The pressure plate is glass to keep the film flat, and the shutter runs from 1/2 to 1/1000 second. Three lenses come with it: a 90mm Vega-12S, a 65mm Mir-3S and a 300mm Tair-33.
The fittings for use in space are still there. The rubber rings on the front of the lens let it sit right against a spacecraft window. A folding sight sits above the finder. Through four small windows, the time of exposure, filter, aperture and shutter speed are recorded on the film. The time comes from a small analog clock inside the camera, and the auction house describes its case as apparently solid gold.
An SKD of the same type flew on the uncrewed Soviet spacecraft Zond 7 in August 1969 and photographed the Earth and the Moon. Zond 7 looped around the Moon and returned to Earth on August 14. The auction description doesn't say whether this particular camera went to space. The estimate is €90,000 to €100,000, with a starting price of €50,000.
Salgado's Leica R6
The third is a Leica R6 that belonged to the Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado (1944–2025), who died last year. According to Leica's press release, Salgado used it to photograph the burning oil fields of Kuwait during the 1991 Gulf War. The R6 is a Leica SLR with a mechanical shutter.
The camera comes as a set with two photographs from the Kuwait series and a limited edition copy of his book Workers, signed by Salgado. The estimate for the whole set is €28,000 to €32,000. If the Leica BOX and the Kiev SKD are stories about the people who made cameras, this R6 is a story about a person who used one.
How to follow the sale
The auction starts at noon Central European Time on Saturday, November 28, which is 8 p.m. the same day in Korea. Besides bidding in the room, you can bid online, in writing or by phone, and live online bids are taken through the auction house's website and LiveAuctioneers. Pre-bidding is already open, so the lot photos and descriptions can be viewed on the auction site now.
Details
- Auction Leitz Photographica Auction 49, November 28, 2026, noon CET, Leica Welt, Wetzlar, Germany
- Leica BOX prototype Lot 37. Mid-1950s, 18×24mm half frame, Agfa Karat cassette, Summaron 35mm f/3.5. Estimate €400,000 to €500,000, starting price €200,000
- Kiev Arsenal SKD space camera Lot 478. 1969, 50×50mm frames on 70mm film, three lenses and two magazines. Estimate €90,000 to €100,000, starting price €50,000
- Sebastião Salgado's Leica R6 Set with two photographs from the Kuwait series and a signed copy of Workers. Estimate €28,000 to €32,000
- Also in the sale Leica MP-105 (estimate €300,000 to €400,000), two black paint Leica M3s, a Leica W.H. panoramic (Rundbild) camera E2 outfit, an ELCAN Leica underwater housing made for the U.S. Army, and Summicron-M 66mm f/2 serial no. 001
