Page 57 - Demo

101 Leica M4 black paint factory sample camera %u20ac10.000*c.1970, condition A%u2013 %u20ac 20.000 %u2013 24.000Presented here is a Leica M4 black paint factory sample test camera without serial number, fitted with a Transitional Summicron 2/50 mm lens, also without serial number. Camera and lens are in near-mint condition and fully functional, representing an exceptionally rare insight into Leica%u2019s internal development and testing processes.The camera originates from the estate of Peter Loseries,an engineer who worked in the Photographic Design Department at Ernst Leitz Wetzlar from 1963 onwards. During his career at Leitz, Loseries was involved in numerousadvanced development programs, including the design ofa metal-blade focal-plane shutter for a new generation of Leica SLR cameras and early concepts of an electronically controlled Leica M, later often referred to as the %u2018Leica M6Electronic,%u2019 which ultimately never entered series production.The engineering experience gained during these projects was incorporated into a wide range of experimental and prototype cameras. Loseries was also substantially involved in the further development of the Leicaflex series and contributed, in both a constructive and advisory role, to the technical development of other Leica products, including the Leica CL. This Leica M4 black paint factory sample thus represents not only an outstanding and extremely rare collectible, but also a direct, personal artifact from one of Leica%u2019s most intensive experimental phases of the 1960s and 1970s, when many innovative concepts existed exclusively as prototypes or factory samples.