Viral cameras like the Kodak Charmera have brought tiny cameras back into the spotlight – but tiny cameras are far from a modern concept. In the mid-1950s, Leica built a half-frame 35mm film camera that measured only 10 cm – about 2.5 inches – tall.
The Leica Box camera is a prototype from the mid-1950s. The camera measured just 100 x 64 x 48mm – about 3.9 x 2.5 x 1.8 inches – and used a fixed tiny Leitz Summaron lens.
Despite the small size, the camera took 35mm film loaded using a special cassette system. The Leica Box shot in half-frame format, getting twice as many shots per roll. And while many modern compact cameras skip the viewfinder, the Leica Box still fit in a tiny optical viewfinder, a shutter speed dial, and an aperture ring around the built-in lens.
While the Box camera is tiny, the compact camera bears the classic styling that makes it look more like a miniature member of the longstanding Leica M system family. The camera was made with solid metal, finished with chrome and black vulcanite.
The Leica Box, sadly, never made it out of prototype stage – making it extremely rare to find one. But the Leitz Photographica Auction has what it believes is the only working Leica Box in existence. The only other Leica Box camera known to exist is in the Leica Museum, but it doesn’t work.
The camera’s designers appeared to have considered a few different lens options, including a 2.8 cm (28mm), 3.5cm (35mm), and a 5cm (50mm). The prototype up for auction used a fixed 3.5cm (35mm) lens, but the non-working version in the museum had a 2.8cm (28mm) lens.
The Leica Box, with serial number 000.01, will be up for auction beginning on October 29. Leitz Photographica Auction currently estimates the camera could fetch as much as €500,000 – or about $562,875 / £424,006 / AU$805,921 / CA$799,902.
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