Free Classic Camera Auction Catalog & CD Rom...

Free Collection of Clasic Cameras on CD

WestLicht of Vienna, Austria, is a Camera Museum and Photo Gallery with revolving exhibits and a major Photographic Auction House. The cameras that are displayed in the museum and pass through the auction house are nothing short of beautiful, representing a full history of photographic cameras and equipment.

Prior to the each years auction WestLicht makes the auction catalog available for free. The collection can be viewed on-line of ordered on CD ROM with accompanying book. Visit the WestLicht website to view or order the current catalog: https://www.westlicht-auction.com/index.php?id=24750&_ssl=on

The WestLicht museum in Vienna, Austria is one of the worlds premier collections of photographic equipment. For those of us who love cameras it is a shrine to the past. Their collection is vast and extends from the orgins of photography until today. If you are passing through Vienna or Europe don't miss a chance to visit.

WestLicht
Westbahnstrasse 40
1070 Vienna, Austria
Tel: ++43 1 523 56 59 16


No I didn't have the winning bid....

Original Daguerreotype SOLD for $792,000

In 2007 A 1839 daguerreotype camera, ancestor of modern photography, was sold at WestLicht's auction in Vienna for nearly 600,000 euros making it the world's oldest and most expensive commercial photographic apparatus.

An anonymous buyer paid 588,613 euros (792,000 dollars), bidding by Internet, said the Westlicht auction house.

The first camera ever sold, 1839 "Daguerreotype" by the Paris manufacturer Susse Frères

Oldest & most expensive camera of all time.
Fetching near 600,000 euros at auction on May 26th 2007, a "Daguerreotype" by the Paris manufacturer Susse Frères. This very recently discovered camera throws new light on the history of photography: the attic find proved to be an example of a camera from September of 1839. up till now it had been thought to be a myth. In the meantime numerous experts attest it very likely might be the oldest commercially-produced camera in the world.

Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (18 November 1787 – 10 July 1851) was the French artist and chemist who is recognized for his invention of the daguerreotype process of photography.

The Daguerreotype was the first successful photographic process, the discovery being announced on 7 January 1839. The process consisted of:
- Exposing copper plates to iodine, the fumes forming light-sensitive silver iodide. The plate would have to be used within an hour.
- Exposing to light - between 10 and 20 minutes, depending upon the light available.
- Developing the plate over mercury heated to 75 degrees Centigrade. This caused the mercury to amalgamate with the silver.
- Fixing the image in a warm solution of common salt (later sodium sulphite was used.
- Rinsing the plate in hot distilled water.

A site dedicated exclusively to Daguerre is http://www.daguerre.org
Interestingly enough, there are enthusiasts who still produce dagerreotypes. See here.

The origins of commercial photography, previously no camera by this manufacturer was known to even exist!

Up till the present "The Daguerreotype" produced (also in 1839) by Daguerre’ s brother-in-law, Giroux had been regarded as the origins of commercial photography. There are around ten of these in existence in various large museums. But even earlier, on the 5th September 1839, a small Susse Frères advertisement appeared in the French newspaper “La Quotidienne” though except for a few instructions (e.g. in the George Eastman House in Rochester) no camera by this manufacturer was known to exist. This world sensation is now being exhibited in WestLicht, in Vienna, Austria. The camera with the original lens by Chevallier is in wonderful original condition and has never been restored or modified.