Pope Francis' Leica camera sells for a thousand times its estimated value!

When a Leica M-A bearing serial number 5000000 sold for €6.5 million (around $7.5m /£5.7m) at Vienna's 47th Leitz Photographica Auction this weekend, the buyer wasn't paying for the mechanically controlled shutter or the accompanying Noctilux 50mm f/1.2 lens. They were paying for a story.

The camera, presented to Pope Francis in 2024 by Leica AG, features white leather covering, engravings of the Keys of Peter, and the pontiff's motto Miserando atque eligendo filled with white, gold and black paint.

Following the pontiff's death in April 2025, it came to auction as a charity lot, with all proceeds directed to the Pope's personal charity foundation and the auction house waiving its commission.

The final price exceeded its €60,000-70,000 estimate a hundredfold, placing it third on the list of most expensive Leicas ever sold. Only two cameras have ever commanded higher prices: a 1923 0-Series No. 105 that sold for €14.4 million in June 2022, and an 0-Series No. 112 from 1923 that achieved €7.2 million in June this year.

Why the high price?

Here's the remarkable part: the Leica M-A is a current production model you can purchase new from authorized dealers for around $6,300. It's a purely mechanical camera introduced in 2014, with specifications nearly identical to the Leica M4-P from 1981.

This particular example likely never exposed a frame of film. Yet it commanded more than a thousand times the retail price of a standard M-A. So what does that tell us about the state of the market for collectable Leicas?

The first thing to be aware of is that Leica has maintained a tradition of reserving round serial numbers for distinguished individuals, and these pieces consistently generate remarkable auction interest. The number 5000000 represents a significant milestone in Leica's production history, adding a layer of numerical significance that collectors prize.

There's also the obvious connection to a globally significant figure; literally the representative of God on Earth if you're one of 1.2 billion Catholics. Interestingly, the same auction saw a Leica M3 gifted to the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1958 sell for €156,000 (around $180,000). That camera exceeded estimates but remained firmly in five-figure territory, demonstrating that not all provenance is equal.

The charitable purpose added emotional weight to the bidding. And the timing, following the Pope's recent death, created a sense of historical finality.

More broadly, the Pope's camera sits within a ecosystem of collectible Leicas that has seen dramatic appreciation in recent years. The 0-Series prototypes from 1923, of which only around a dozen survive, represent the holy grail for collectors. These cameras laid the foundation for the entire 35mm revolution, transforming photography from a cumbersome medium requiring large format cameras into something portable and spontaneous.

But the market isn't limited to century-old prototypes. Modern special editions with compelling stories also command significant premiums. What they share is narrative weight: a connection to history, achievement, or cultural significance that transcends the camera's function as a picture-taking device.

Separate universe

For working photographers, of course, these auction results exist in an entirely separate universe from the tools we use daily. Yet there's something affirming about seeing a purely mechanical film camera command such extraordinary prices in 2025.

It confirms that photographers and collectors still value craftsmanship, precision engineering and the tangible connection to photographic history that Leica represents. The Leica M-A is remarkable precisely because it strips away everything unnecessary. No exposure meter. No electronics. No battery. Just the essential mechanics of photography refined over decades.

That the Pope's example sold for such an extraordinary sum says less about the camera itself than about our continued fascination with objects that connect us to significant people and moments.

Check out our guide to the best Leica cameras you can buy today