Photography as a medium has always been shaped by the tools used to make it, and this auction featured a wide selection of superb examples. Selling for
£700 was a
Hasselblad 500C medium format camera from circa 1965, fitted with a Carl Zeiss Planar 80 mm lens, matching film back and PM5 prism. The 500C came to define professional photographic practice in the mid twentieth century, valued for its modular system, mechanical reliability and exceptional Zeiss optics. Its reputation for clarity and precision eventually saw Hasselblad cameras chosen for NASA’s lunar missions, making early examples like this highly collectable. Equally significant, this
Leica DBP M3 rangefinder outfit from around 1961 achieved a respectable
£1,300. Housed in its original Benser case, the set includes a Summilux 50 mm f1.4 lens, an Elmar 135 mm, hoods, meter, flash equipment, tripod and instruction booklets. The M3 remains one of the most celebrated 35 mm cameras ever built, prized for its engineering, quiet shutter and outstanding lenses. Complete kits of this scale are increasingly uncommon. Also featured was a remarkable archive of over
five hundred real photographic postcards by J. T. Ross, capturing daily life, village scenes and coastal landscapes around Whitby and South Teesside from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century. Rich in documentary value, the collection offers an intimate record of local history, supported by four accompanying volumes on the photographer’s life and work. This one of a kind lot was secured for a bid of
£2,400.