Photography is a surprisingly old art, folks, and you’ll get to see just how old for yourself when you hit the Westlicht auction house in Vienna for their auction of the world’s oldest commercially manufactured camera.

How old is this sucker?  Well, that’s sort of the thrust of the article, isn’t it?  And you’ll be amazed to hear that it’s a hundred and seventy one years old.  Manufactured back in 1839, this camera is called a Daguerrotype, and previously, only ten of them were thought to exist.  But this camera even comes with a user’s manual, and is reportedly in very good condition.

A Daguerrotype camera produces a direct image on a polished silver surface coated with silver halide particles, which in turn are sensitive to light.

And it’s a good thing this one’s in good condition–the opening bid for this camera is a whopping two hundred thousand euros or just over two hundred eighty one grand US.  It’s expected to make a good run at being the most expensive camera ever, too, considering that the last top price bringer weighed in at five hundred seventy six thousand euros, or just over eight hundred ten grand US.

So good luck to the owner, and man, what a find.

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