EntertainmentWorld's Most Expensive Camera
Sun, Mar 31 2007
In this day and age, camera makers are vying for the rank of the best by rendering superlative features that are constantly out doing each other day after day. But here is a camera discovered from a dusty attic that is making news. Called "Daguerreotype," it is a wooden sliding box camera produced by the Paris company Susse Freres in 1839.
Discovered as part of an inheritance in Germany, the antique piece will allow photography enthusiasts rewrite history. Westlicht, a private photo gallery and auction house in Vienna, plans to auction off this piece of history on May 26. Believed to be the world's oldest commercially manufactured camera, Westlicht said the Vienna camera has never been restored.
Up to now, experts said that apart from some documents there was no proof that the so-called "Daguerreotype," a wooden sliding box camera produced by the Paris company Susse Freres in 1839, really existed. Discovered as part of an inheritance in Germany, the antique piece will allow photography enthusiasts rewrite history.
The camera belongs to a US-based scholar and was inherited from his father, a technical photography professor at Munich University. The starting bid is $132,000, but the final price for the 168-year-old gadget is expected to be way past a million euros ($1,329,000).
Invented by French chemist Lois Daguerre, a daguerreotype is an early type of photograph. It produces a direct image on a polished silver surface that bears a coating of silver halide particles, deposited by iodine bromide or chlorine vapours. As there was no negative original like in modern photography, no copies of pictures could be made.
Technical Specifications
- 1 gazillion Megapixels
- 1 Tripod
- 1 Black curtain
- 1 Free top hat with every camera sold (probably)
- 1 Lens cap
- No Zoom
- No Autofocus
- No Red-eye
- No Image stabilization
- No Noise reduction
- No GPS EXIF information
- No Battery
- No Carrying Case
Mon, Apr 1 2007
Hallman says:
As I remember well "Daguerreotype" is also a type of photograph, probably the first photographic process to be invented.
Tue, Apr 2 2007
john_q says:
Daguerreotype is note the first photographic process ever invented, but i think it's one of the first processes that has a short exposure time. And uses silver as a medium coating.
Sat, May 11 2007
Ake Hultman says:
The picture to this article is not made by Susse Frères. It is probably a camera from the 1920´s.
Thu, May 30 2007
Dr. Nour says:
can I bid?
Wed, Jun 19 2007
casedimage says:
The correct seminal title for the Daguerreotype process is the "first publicily annouced process of Photography" anything else is subjective. The image is formed on copper plates with a silver surface. There were a few people trying to capture images but most could not fix the images, Daguerre solved this and also discovered latent image development.
Fri, Aug 30 2007
david gunnells says:
Pictures and a description can be found at the auction house's website:
http://www.westlicht-auction.com/index.php?id=76799&acat=76799&lang=3
Thu, Oct 17 2007
matthew kenny says:
oh id like to get my dick in that 
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