Robert White's Leicavit MP camera to lead sale of his estate

A Leicavit MP is among the headline lots from the collection of the late Robert White, who died last year.

It's valued at £15,000-20,000 ($19,766-26,355) ahead of the September 19 sale in London.

Leica MP White
The Leica MP was produced in a run of around 400 units

The camera is one of around 400 produced (this one is numbered 294) between 1956 and 1957. Very few survive today.

It was designed for use by professional photographers and features a rapid winding mechanism at the bottom, allowing photographers to shoot up to two frames per second.

This was ideal for photojournalists.

Jon Baddeley, global director of collector's sales at Bonhams, said: "As one would expect from a man who made cameras and photography his life's work, the pieces collected by Robert White are rare, of immense quality, and are of historical significance.

"From the Leicavit MP, no. 294 - which is in completely original condition to how it was made some 50 years ago - to a Leica III that comes complete with a very large wooden dummy model for shop displays in the early 1930s.

"Robert certainly had an eye for quality."

The sale will also include a number of cars and motorbikes, White's other great passion, with a 1930 Bentley Le Mans style tourer expected to make £450,000-550,000 ($592,440-724,094).

Bonhams co-chairman Malcolm Barber comments: "Robert White was a great man and an enthusiast of all things mechanical.

"The sale is a showcase of his life's passion, with more than 500 lots set to raise more than £2 million for charity."

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