At WestLicht’s latest auction, an 88-year-old Leica camera from the 0-Series was sold for a record €1,320,000 (approx. $1,900,000), making it the world’s most expensive camera by a very wide margin. In 1923, Leitz made a small batch of less than three dozen prototypes (various sources put the exact number of units produced between 25 and 31) to test the waters, and this batch is known as the Leica 0-Series. The camera that went under the hammer on Saturday is in fully working condition, and is the only camera known with ‘Germany’ engraved on the top plate, WestLicht Auction says. The starting price was €200,000, and the auctioneer expected the item to sell for up to €450,000; so the hammer price was a massive surprise to everyone, including the experts.

Source: WestLicht

The Lomo LC-Wide is a new film camera with a fixed ultra-wide lens and the ability to shoot three different formats on 35mm film. Featuring a 17mm Minigon glass lens, the Lomo LC-Wide is billed as “a passionate celebration of the ultra-wide-angle”. The user can choose from 36x24mm full frame, 17x24mm half frame and 24x24mm square formats. The camera is available now, in limited quantities, in the online Lomography shop for €/£349.

To celebrate the launch some London Lomographers got together and shot a stop motion video on the LC-Wide, which you can view below. The two-minute video is entirely shot on the LC-Wide, and took 35 rolls of film to make.

Impossible has launched the Impossible PX 680 Color Shade FF instant colour film. Compatible with all Polaroid 600 cameras - as well as all Polaroid SX 70 cameras equipped with a neutral density filter -, the Impossible PX680 “introduces a magical new colour palette within the classic white frame”, the company says. Available in packs of eight, the film retails for €18.00 / $21.99.

The Kodak Pulse digital photo frame and the new Kodak Portra 160 film have been honoured with TIPA awards. Named the ‘Best Accessory’ by the TIPA jury, the Kodak Pulse digital photo frame features Wi-Fi connectivity, a customisable e-mail address and a touch-sensitive viewing panel. Announced this February, the new Kodak Professional Portra 160 (pictured) is an all-new colour negative film that incorporates the manufacturer’s Advanced Cubic Emulsions, Kodak Vision Film Technology and Antenna Dye Sensitisation in the magenta emulsion layers. Replacing the Portra 160NC and VC offerings, the new Kodak Professional Portra 160 film is available in 35mm, 120/220, 4x5 and 8x10 sheet formats.

The Romano Archives have published an amazing collection of rare colour footage showing Allied war photographers and cameramen at work during World War II. Founded by Italian historian Vincent Romano, the Romano Archives are dedicated to the digitisation and online distribution of historical documents and records, as well as WW2 newsreels filmed on colour material such as Kodachrome. This compilation features mainly US war photographers and cameramen in action in various theatres of the war, including places like Paris, Iwo Jima and Torgau, Germany, where US Army forces first met with Red Army units coming from the East. The footage shows the varied equipment used by members of the US Army Signal Corps and other Allied war photographers, including 35mm rangefinders and large-format press cameras, as well as a range of motion-picture cameras and accessories.

Click through / scroll down to view the compilation.

Lomography has announced three new cameras inspired by Japanese culture. “When conceived, these cameras were meant to commemorate Japan’s Golden Week,” Lomography said in a statement. “Now, the cameras have taken on a whole new meaning; they have become a way to help a community with a lot of work ahead of them.” By purchasing one of these cameras, you contribute to a donation of €20,000 to the Red Cross Relief Japan. All three models can be pre-ordered in the Lomography Online Shop or at the Lomography Gallery Stores.

The Fuji Instax Mini 50s instant film camera is now available from the Photojojo Store in a Piano Black version. Going for $149 including two packs of instant film, he Fuji Instax Mini 50s Piano Black is “sleeker, smarter and shinier” than previous versions. Photojojo is also selling the camera’s little brother the Instax Mini 25s, for $140 including a pack of instant film.

Website: The Photojojo Store

Lomography has announced the Diana Deluxe Kit, which includes a Diana F+ camera and a wide range of accessories. These include a flash with hot-shoe adapters, a cable release, four different masks for various film frame formats, a range of lenses from fish-eye to telephoto, two external viewfinders, and more. Available online from the Lomography Store, the Diana Deluxe Kit sells for €200. The kit is also sold in a bundle with a 3-pack of X-Pro Slide 200 transparency film in 120 format, at a price of €220.

Online backup experts MiMedia have teamed up with DiJiFi to offer customers a combined digitisation-backup service. Those who enlist DiJiFi to scan photos and transfer videos will have the option to automatically pre-populate a MiMedia account. Following a 60 day free trial, they will receive a 30 percent discount. An annual subscription for 100GB of data will be $70, versus the $120 retail value.

Lomography UK has launched its biggest consumer promotion to date. Within the framework of its “One Million Piggies Giveaway”, Lomography UK we will be giving away one million piggies to participants, with each piggy being worth £1 in the Lomography online store. Today, piggies will be awarded to everyone who uploads more than 50 shots to the Lomography website. Tomorrow, the company is giving away 5 piggies to anyone who “likes” their top 100 favourite Lomography shots and comments on ten of them. The promotion will continue until Friday, with each day bringing new “piggy challenges”. Click through for more detailed information.

The LomoLab is a new film processing lab housed in the basement at the Lomography Gallery Store East London. Offering on-site processing of colour and black-and-white 35mm and 120 format film, including cross processing, push and pull processing, the LomoLab will also provide a scanning service with an option to send scans directly to your LomoHome or email address. Launching on 11th March and open Monday through Friday, the LomoLab is located at 117 Commercial Street, London.

Kodak has just announced the new Kodak Professional Portra 160 film. Offering “a significantly finer grain structure in a 160-speed colour negative film”, the new Kodak Professional Portra 160 incorporates the manufacturer’s Advanced Cubic Emulsions, Kodak Vision Film Technology and Antenna Dye Sensitisation in the magenta emulsion layers. Distinguished by a wide latitude and a very natural rendering of skin tones, the new film is also claimed to scan extremely well for digital postprocessing. Replacing the current Portra 160NC and VC offerings, the new Kodak Professional Portra 160 film will be available in 35mm, 120/220, 4x5 and 8x10 sheet format, beginning next month.

Lomography have released special Valentine’s Day editions of the Diana Mini, Diana F+ and Fisheye 2 film cameras. The Diana Mini “Love Is In The Air” is the perfect companion if you want to give your date a retro-touch, Adam and Eve have turned their attentions to the medium format Diana F+ “Take My Heart”, and the Fisheye 2 “I Love You” will make your heart race. Possibly. The three new models are priced between £79 and £99 in the UK.

The Lomo LC-A+ White is a limited-edition Lomography camera with a few tricks up its sleeve. Using standard 35mm film, the Lomo LC-A+ White features a 32mm f/2.8 Minitar lens, a multiple exposure switch for easy, real-time double-exposure, an industry-standard cable release thread, a flash hot-shoe and a “whirling white kimono of elegant metal and smooth leather”. Limited to one thousand pieces, the Lomo LC-A+ comes with a white L-Case and can be yours for $399 or €379.

A new Polaroid camera will be unveiled at the CES show in January. According to Engadget, they’ve receieved a press invite from Polaroid for the 6th of January which shows a new camera tantalisingly shrouded in darkness. Some simple Photoshop trickery reveals a slot in the bottom of the new Polaroid, hinting at a new instant camera.

Website: Engadget

Arca-Swiss has announced the Rm2d, a precision medium-format camera, which is smaller and lighter than the critically acclaimed Rm3d. Marketed as the camera for high-resolution hand-held photography, the Arca-Swiss Rm2d can take film magazines as well as digital backs, and is compatible with Arca-Swiss R-mount lenses ranging from 23mm to 250mm. The precision of the focusing device allows for repeatable settings with 15 micron accuracy (when mounted on a tripod, of course), and the camera also boasts a shift functionality that makes it well suited to architectural photography. Weighing in at a mera 700 grams without a lens or a film magazine / digital back, the Arca-Swiss Rm2d is available at a price of €3,090 + VAT.

The Lomographic Society has released three new members of the Diana camera family. The three new clones of the Diana Mini include a pink, a white and a black version. These 35mm “toy” cameras can shoot two different frame sizes including 24x24mm square and 18x24mm half-frame, and the photographer can switch from one to the other even mid-roll. The Diana Mini White is available at a price of £55 / €60 / $70, whereas the Diana Mini En Rose (pink) and Petite Noir (black) retail for £99 / €100 / €110.

Fujifilm has just released a statement intended “to dispel rumours of an impending end to its E6 film processing service”. Fujifilm Professional’s product manager, Gabriel Da Costa, said: “Our range of transparency films is still very popular so I am delighted to state that Fujifilm is committed to E6 processing for the foreseeable future.” In the UK, Leeds based pro lab CC Imaging is responsible for the processing of all process-paid Sensia slide film, in addition to Fujifilm’s professional films when sent with Fujifilm’s pre-paid E6 135/120 vouchers.

Lomography has introduced the Sprocket Rocket, billed as the very first camera dedicated to sprocket hole photography. By including the sprocket holes found along the edges of every 35mm film roll, the Sprocket Rocket camera takes pictures with a unique look. Additionally, the Lomography Sprocket Rocket features a reverse gear which allows the photographer to move back and forth between the frames with two convenient scrolling knobs to enable taking multiple exposures on the same frame. Outfitted with a 30mm lens that has a somewhat wider-than-expected angle of view thanks to the larger-than-standard (72x35mm) frames recorded (although it does vignette noticeably), the Lomography Sprocket Rocket has a recommended retail price (RRP) of £79.

Twenty London-based Lomographers have created a stop-motion movie using several Lomo LC-A+ cameras (pictured) and a variety of 35m films. The nearly 3-minute movie is made up of almosty 2,000 separate images shot on redscale, X-Pro Chrome and Lomography colour negative films plus two reels of 8mm black-and-white film. You can view the Lomography stop-motion movie after the break.