Contessa-Nettel Argus£509
25 May 2013 · Leitz Photographica Auction · €600 · lot AI_23_10785hammer ↗
+ lens
Contessa Argus
camera
The Contessa Argus has 2 recorded sales: £509 (25 May 2013, Leitz Photographica Auction) and £540 (5 Dec 2009, Leitz Photographica Auction). That is too few for a typical price.
Recorded sales
Only 2 sales — too few for a typical price, so here they are.
Contessa-Nettel Argus£540
5 Dec 2009 · Leitz Photographica Auction · €600 · lot AI_16_19484hammer ↗
+ lens
Sales onlyold
Hammer prices, buyer’s premium removed; eBay as soldHow ↗
What it is
{"overview":"The Contessa Argus is an early 20th-century plate camera produced by Contessa-Nettel, the German manufacturer based in Stuttgart that merged into Zeiss Ikon in 1926. Anyone trying to work out what a Contessa Argus is worth in 2026 should treat that figure as historical context only and seek fresh comparables, since auction-hammer values for niche pre-Zeiss-Ikon plate cameras are highly condition-sensitive and turn over infrequently.","buying_guide":"On any folding plate camera of this era, inspect the bellows for pinholes, check the shutter for sticking at slow speeds, and confirm that the ground glass, plate holders and lens elements are present and undamaged.
Generated summary, 30 Apr 2026 — not checked by hand; prices on this page come from the sales, not from this text.
Questions
Is the Contessa Argus a usable camera or a collector item?
It is a pre-war folding plate camera, so in practice it is bought as a collector or display piece rather than as a working camera.
Facts
- Maker
- Contessa
- Type
- camera
- Sales in the typical price
- 2
- First sale
- 5 Dec 2009
- Latest sale
- 25 May 2013
- Evidence
- Sales only · old
- Method
- v1
Cite this page
“Contessa Argus: 2 recorded sales, 2009–2013; no typical price (method v1).” cameraworth.com, retrieved 8 October 2026. https://www.cameraworth.com/c/contessa/argus/