Leitz Auction 48: Paparazzi Leica, Gun RIFLE Camera, Lumière Cinématographe

The Leitz auction is the kind of thing you read about and think 'I'd never spend that money' and then spend forty minutes down a rabbit hole anyway. The standout lot isn't the ultra-rare black-paint MP-33 (one of 141 made, with the brassy patina collectors chase). It's the chrome Leica MP that belonged to Tazio Secchiaroli — the Rome street photographer whose work directly inspired the word 'paparazzo' in Fellini's La Dolce Vita. There's a certain poetry in the fact that Secchiaroli eventually pivoted to respected celebrity portraiture and left the intrusive style behind. His camera outlasted the reputation. For working photographers who'll never bid on any of it, the auction is still worth a look: the Gun RIFLE camera (12-14 ever made, built to kill camera shake on long telephoto lenses in the field) is a reminder that the problem of handholding a 500mm has been annoying photographers since before any of us were born. Online auction opens May 13 if you want to browse without flying to Wetzlar.