Camera gathering dust in Kenilworth home could be sold for hundreds of pounds

Valuers from Hansons Auctioneers gave the camera a guide price of £200 after it was taken to a valuation day at St Francis of Assisi Church on Thursday January 11.

The camera, a 35mm Asahiflex type, will now be sold at a specialist camera auction on Thursday February 22 at Hansons in Derbyshire.

Adrian Rathbone, associate director at Hansons, said: “This is a typical example of someone having an object that may well have been gathering dust in a drawer for decades, only to suddenly discover it could be worth hundreds of pounds.

“The Asahiflex was a 35mm single-lens reflex camera built by the Asahi Optical Corporation, later to become Pentax. It was the first SLR camera built in Japan.

“Though times have moved on and smart phone pictures dominate, keen collectors like to own these important objects and many cameras are worth far more than you think."

The next valuation day will be held at St Francis of Assisi Church on Thursday February 8 from 10am to 4pm.