George Lucas' $625,000 Panavision camera: the second most expensive Star Wars item in the galaxy!

George Lucas' $625,000 Panavision camera: the second most expensive Star Wars item in the galaxy!
(Image credit: shotonwhat.com)

Happy Star Wars Day! As well as greeting fellow fans with the customary "May the fourth be with you," we thought we'd share a bit of trivia with you: did you know that the second most expensive piece of Star Wars memorabilia ever sold is none other than the Panavision camera used by George Lucas to shoot the very first film, Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope

George Lucas’ Panavision PSR-200 35mm camera was used to shoot the original Star Wars back in 1976 (before it had a the chapter and subtitle added to it). Some 35 years later, it was sold at an auction in Beverly Hills by Profiles in History fetching a cool $625,000 (£474,360 / AU$918,774) in 2011 (thanks, Robb Report).

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James Artaius
Editor

The editor of Digital Camera World, James has 21 years experience as a journalist and started working in the photographic industry in 2014 (as an assistant to Damian McGillicuddy, who succeeded David Bailey as Principal Photographer for Olympus). In this time he shot for clients like Aston Martin Racing, Elinchrom and L'Oréal, in addition to shooting campaigns and product testing for Olympus, and providing training for professionals. This has led him to being a go-to expert for camera and lens reviews, photo and lighting tutorials, as well as industry news, rumors and analysis for publications like Digital Camera MagazinePhotoPlus: The Canon MagazineN-Photo: The Nikon MagazineDigital Photographer and Professional Imagemaker, as well as hosting workshops and talks at The Photography Show. He also serves as a judge for the Red Bull Illume Photo Contest. An Olympus and Canon shooter, he has a wealth of knowledge on cameras of all makes – and a fondness for vintage lenses and instant cameras.