Cameras used by Cold War spy agencies are listed at a major camera auction in Germany next month.
The star item at the 46th Leitz Photographica Auction in June is likely to be a very early Leica, the pioneer mass-produced camera.
That gem – one of the rarest cameras in history – is expected to realise over £1 million.
Equally intriguing and more affordable are a series of cameras designed for and used by Soviet Bloc spy agencies.
A gentle squeeze, and levers snap a picture on this autofocus camera and no-one is any the wiser. Image courtesy of Leitz.
These ingenious surveillance devices are low-tech by today’s standards, but will fascinate fans of spy fiction.
A KGB camera that would suit a John Le Carre novel can be yours for around £1,000 upwards. The modified Zorki-6 from the 1960s is set into a briefcase, peeking out of what looks like the lock fastening. Once your target is in sight you simply squeeze the case, and an ingenious set of levers depresses the shutter.
You could also bid on a 1980s pin-hole camera used by Soviet intelligence. The tiny casing – 5.2 by 2.4 by 1 cm – supports four separate shutters to capture secret images. You’ll need more than £500 to meet the asking price.
This tiny Soviet camera has four lenses. Image courtesy of Leitz.
The most valuable of these spy machines was made for the German Democratic Republic’s Stasi, whose surveillance of East Germany’s people was notoriously widespread.
Leitz Photographic list a previously unknown camera made of chrome and brass that shot 9mm by 9mm images from a 3cm by 1.5cm body.
It carries an estimate of €6,000 and €8,000 – about £5,000 to £6,700.
Spy cameras were specialist and rare and rarely come to auction so it’s hard to find comparative prices.
A sale in 2021 auctioned many items from the KGB Espionage Museum. Among them were a “spy purse” with a hidden camera that made $32,000 against a $3,000 estimate. Another camera, hidden in a fake box of John Player Special cigarettes, made nearly $20,000.
That suggests that these items may well make more than predicted.
The Leitz Auction 46 takes place on June 27, 2025, and the catalogue is online now and open for bidding.
