The Wetzlar Camera Auction is always interesting and sometimes amusing to watch. Interesting to see some of the rare items that often seem to pop up and amusing because of the ridiculous sums of money that some people are willing to fork over in order to own them. And the recently concluded Wetzlar auction is no exception, where one person paid almost $700,000 for a rare 24x24mm Leica M prototype.

Before the auction began, the rare Leica was estimated to be worth around €8,000-10,000 but it went under the hammer for a whopping €687,500, which equates to around $668,000 in US currency at today’s exchange rate. With its square 24x24mm exposures, it was designed to capture 52 images on a roll of film rather than the standard 36 for the regular 35mm format.

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