CameraWorth.com

Carl Zeiss Jena Minimum Palmos

The Minimum Palmos is an early folding plate camera carrying the Carl Zeiss Jena name, built around the Palmos focal-plane shutter design from the early 20th century. It was a compact-format hand camera aimed at the keen amateur and press user of its era.

With only a single tracked UK auction result, the Minimum Palmos has limited public price evidence: a Christie's hammer of £72 in 2006 is the lone reference point at saleroom level, and that figure is wholesale rather than a retail or dealer asking price. In today's market the value of any given example sells for whatever condition, completeness and shutter function will support, so a working camera with original lens and bellows is worth materially more than a project body.

I have one to sell

Sales History

Prices shown are UK auction hammer results — the wholesale level achieved in the saleroom. Neither buyer’s nor seller’s commission is included. Dealer and retail asking prices are typically higher.

Date Price Source
Jan 2025 £40 Special Auction Services
May 2011 EUR 150 Leitz Auction
Jun 2008 EUR 340 Leitz Auction
Feb 2006 £72 Christie's
Nov 2003 EUR 250 Leitz Auction

Frequently asked questions

What is a Carl Zeiss Jena Minimum Palmos worth today?

The only tracked UK auction sale recorded in our data is a £72 hammer price at Christie's in 2006, so any current value estimate beyond that single reference point would be speculative.

How much does a Minimum Palmos sell for at auction?

On the evidence available it has sold for around £72 at hammer in a UK saleroom, but with just one data point the realistic price range for a clean, working example today is not reliably established.

Is the Minimum Palmos a good collector camera?

It appeals to collectors of early Zeiss and Palmos-shutter folding plate cameras, and the price you pay should reflect shutter function, bellows condition and lens clarity rather than the name alone.

Other Carl Zeiss Jena cameras