If you love photography, you may already have expensive equipment at home. You can easily spend hundreds or thousands of euros for a good camera and lens. Yet there is always a more expensive option. Take a moment to dream about the most expensive camera and the most high-tech lenses of the moment. Were you already familiar with the luxury items below?
Most expensive items
Leica SPO-Telyt-R 1:5.6/1600mm lens
This lens, which was made in 2012, is the most expensive lens in the world. The lens was specially made by Leica for Sheikh Saud Bin Mohammed All-Thani. The photography fanatic from Qatar paid more than 1.6 million euros for this. For that money you don't just get any lens: the body is 1.2 meters long and weighs no less than 60 kilos. So it's no surprise that the sheikh ordered a special off-road vehicle from Mercedes to transport the lens.
Leica 0
Another record for Leica: the most expensive camera in the world. The Leica 0 with serial number 105 is almost 100 years old, and the prototype of this camera was sold at auction in 2022 for no less than 14.4 million euros. The previous holder of this record was also a Leica 0, but with serial number 122. Serial number 105 was auctioned for a higher amount because it was the personal camera of Oskar Barnack, the inventor of the Ur-Leica.
The Leica 0-Series No. 105 is one of the original 25 prototypes of Leica cameras produced in 1923, two years before the first commercial Leica cameras were released. These cameras are extremely rare and are considered a holy grail among collectors of vintage cameras.
Besides the Leica 0-Series, there are also other expensive cameras, such as specially made models or luxury cameras covered in precious metals and gemstones, but none of them come close to the value of this iconic Leica.
CJ45ex9.7B IASE-V 4K Super telephoto zoom EFP
This lens may not cost millions, but it still has a hefty price tag: almost 110,000 euros. The lens supports 4K cameras and also provides a razor-sharp image when zooming in. The zoom itself is impressive: the lens offers a 45x zoom ratio. The lens is therefore well suited to long-distance imaging, such as wildlife photography and landscapes.
Protect expensive equipment
Although the above-mentioned cameras and lenses are of course exceptionally expensive and you probably paid a little less for your own camera equipment, it is not unusual in photography to spend thousands of euros on your equipment. With the right protection and proper maintenance, you can continue to take beautiful photos for as long as possible with all your purchases.
You can protect your beloved camera and lenses against damage caused by falls and bumps by purchasing good covers and a camera bag with sufficient padding. Cleaning your cameras and lenses is also important. This helps prevent dust or sand from damaging your equipment.
And of course, safe storage, both indoors and outdoors, is crucial. Your valuable equipment is attractive to thieves. If you are photographing outdoors, you can attach your camera to your arm with specially designed straps. This makes it less likely for a thief to steal it from your hands.
If you keep your camera at home, take out good home insurance (such as home contents insurance). If your beloved equipment is stolen from your home, you will be largely reimbursed by your insurer.
Do you also want to insure your valuables outside your home? Then you can add outdoor coverage to your home contents insurance. To see which type of insurance suits you best, it is best to: compare home insurance.
Michel Ypma, home insurance expert at Independer, provides an important footnote: "Depending on how much your belongings are worth, you can determine the coverage of your home contents insurance yourself. But there are still limits to this. Do you have or are you considering having such an extremely expensive camera yourself? Then valuables insurance can be a good solution so that you are not underinsured."
