World’s Most Expensive Camera
The world’s most expensive camera was recently auctioned off (May 2010) by Westlicht. The final price for the camera body & lens? A cool $927,004.80.
Is this some super-duper experimental digital wonder with 50 gazillion megapixels? No, it was a very, very old camera — a Daguerréotype Giroux built in 1839, to be exact. And this is rather remarkable considering the first-ever photograph of a live person was taken early that same year (but not with this camera):
Boulevard du Temple, Paris, IIIe arrondissement, Daguerréotype 1839
No less spectacular is the price paid for the mercury box that goes with the Daguerréotype — the extremely rare accessory finally sold for $183,121.44. What the heck is a mercury box? Well, in those days you had to develop your full plate (164mm x 216mm) Daguerréotypes using a particular method.
The somewhat dangerous process involved inserting your exposed plate in the upper part of the box in a 45° angle and then exposing it to mercury vapor. The mercury vapor was produced by heating up a small sheet metal cup in the pyramid-shaped lower part of the box (break some OSHA regulations anyone?). On the right side a thermometer was mounted to measure the temperature of the mercury. On the lower left side, just next the metal cup, there is a small opening to refill the mercury with a dropping glass. At the top of the box a removable wooden cover to keep the vapor inside (hopefully… so it doesn’t go up your nose!). In order to inspect of the state of development the upper portion of the box has a semi-circular glass front which originally was covered by a curtain to keep out the light.
Oh and one other thing — you’ll need the instruction book so you know how the whole process works. Shell out another $11,397.60 for that. All told, this little hobby kit sold for a total of $1,121,523.84. And don’t forget the .84 cents! But it was the state of the art at that time. Here’s a few pictures from the auction house’s catalog listing:
