You could soon get your hands on an incredible piece of history, as a KGB spy camera disguised as a Zenit camera case is about to go up at this month’s Leitz Photographica auction in Austria.
The Russian F-21 Ajax-12 spy camera is hidden inside the Zenit ever-ready case, and has a sophisticated built-in mechanism that enables the user to take pictures through a masked window in the buckle of the strap fitting. The shutter release is hidden in the base of the case, and “is in good working condition” according to Leitz Photographica.
The camera takes half-frame images on 21mm film and can be wound to take several pictures in quick succession, perfect for spying on your enemies.
The relic of a sinister time in the Sixties will go to auction in Vienna on November 23, and has a starting price of €1,000 (approximately $1,075 / £830 / AU$1,630) and is expected to fetch up to €2,400 ($3,360 / £1,990 / AU$3,900).
Kosmo Foto profiled the camera back in 2020 reporting, that it was made by Krasnagorsk Mechaniskiy Zavod (KMZ) near Moscow – the same manufacturer that made Zenit SLRs.
“The Zenit-E was probably the most produced SLR of all time,” said Kosmo Foto. “Some eight-odd million churned out of factories in Moscow and Minsk, and is more likely to be found in a flea market or car boot sale than in an auction house.
“Go to a camera fair and these cameras and their characteristically cumbersome leather cases can usually be had for pocket change.”
The “KGB case” was one of the few examples of incredibly innovative creations seen invented during the time period, and it’s understandably piqued a lot of interest with its design worthy of a James Bond novel.
A tool of the much feared KGB agents during the cold war, Vladislav Kern – a Chicago-based Soviet camera collector who runs USSRPhoto.com – told Kosmo Foto that he has only ever seen one in the flesh.
Aston Auctioneers camera consultant Tim Goldsmith told Kosmo Foto that the collector who owned the camera had so many that it took him a while to discover the camera's secrets.
“There was a box marked ‘Spy Cameras’ and this camera was inside. It wasn’t unusual to find one or two cameras of a totally different type to the others in a box as they were fitted in as and where space allowed.
“When I first saw it, I just assumed it was a normal camera and it must have sat on a shelf for a week or two before I actually opened it up. Then I was surprised! … and the first time I tried it, it really raised a smile. It works perfectly and with very little noise.”
While the camera is expected to go for anything up to €2,400, another example of the camera sold for €4,930 ($5,280 / £4,080 / AU$8,030).
Interested in history? Take a look at our guides to the best retro cameras, the best film cameras, and the best film for 35mm cameras.
