World's most expensive camera

German camera-maker Leica is famous for making some the high-quality cameras. A new Leica can cost you as much as $31,700.

But this 1923 0-series Leica is a piece of camera history. It is one from the first batch of cameras that the company has ever created.

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This rare 1923 Leica went for 2.16 million euros ($2.8 million) at an auction in Vienna, making it the most expensive camera ever sold, the auctioneer said.

An anonymous buyer won the bidding battle for the German camera, which still works.

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The Leica camera, number 116, was built in 1923 as part of a pilot series. It was one of just 25 produced in 1923 for testing, and only 12 of them are known to have survived to this day.

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The world's previous most expensive camera was also a 0-series Leica, but it sold for just $1.7 million.

A different Leica 0-series sold in November 2007 for 336,000 euros at auction, and then again in May 2011 for 1.32 million euros including the buyer's premium.

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Only half of them have been preserved -- and when they rarely come to auction, they fetch enormous prices. Last year, another of the prototypces was bought for ٟ.15m by a private collector from Asia.

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At the auction, the 1923 Leica 0-series camera carried a presale estimate of between 350,000 and 450,000, and the opening bid 200,000.

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The factory record indicates delivery to New York for patent applies. This means that this camera is not only one of the major existing rarities, it is also the first Leica being exported, according to a tech publication, Geeky Gadgets.

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It's the most expensive camera ever sold, but is still only half the price of the most expensive photo that was auctioned in May 2012.

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Leica Camera AG is an international company in the optical industry, with its headquarters based in Solms, Germany, and a second location in Portugal. Leica was founded in 1849, specialising in the development of lenses and microscopes. All products from the three divisions - Photography, Hunting Lenses and Nature Watching.

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Notable for its collapsible lens, the camera went on sale in 1925.

By 1932, about 90,000 Leica cameras were in use.