The Perken Optimus Detective is a late-Victorian British detective camera, a category of plate cameras designed to be used discreetly and disguised as everyday objects or plain boxes. It dates from the era when Perken, Son & Rayment of London supplied photographic apparatus to the British amateur and professional market.

Sales data for the Optimus Detective is extremely thin: a single UK auction hammer result from November 2016 sold for £600, and no further saleroom records are available to establish a current range or median in 2026. Because this is a wholesale auction figure rather than a retail price, dealer asking prices for a comparable example today would typically sit higher, and the value of any individual camera is highly condition-sensitive given its age.