Camera

Camera
Type:	Ranged Weapon
Function:	Stuns enemies, illuminates rooms, instantly kills flying/undead enemies.
Source:	Shops Crates (1.15% chance) Great Humphead
Cost:	$3000[Needs Research]
Damage:	n/a
Notes:	The flash can illuminate dark areas.

The Camera is a returning item from Spelunky. It is usually found inside shops, but can also be found inside of crates with a 1.15% chance of appearing, as well as a drop from Great Humphead.

Functionality

The camera is a somewhat ranged, incredibly useful tool. Upon being used, the screen will flash white, and enemies within the camera's range will be stunned.

The range of the Camera's effects are limited to a large square about 1 and a half tiles in front of the player, about 2 and a half tiles wide and tall.

The light can be used to see in dark levels and in background sections, briefly illuminating the area.

In addition to lighting up the background, the camera has a wide variety of other applications:

• Instantly kills any flying/undead enemy such as Bats, Vampires, Jiang Shi, Skeletons, Flying Fish, or even Vlad.
  • Also the only weapon that can kill Ghists.
• Stuns any enemy that can be stunned for a fixed amount of time without damaging them, allowing the player to bring them to Altars.
  • Shopkeepers, Yang, and other NPC's will be stunned for significantly longer than usual, making the Camera an effective deterrent or easy way to sacrifice them to an Altar.
  • Can be used to stun and subsequently calm down Croc Men.
• Freezes most un-stunnable enemies in place, such as Snakes and Fire Bugs.
  • Is the only weapon that can freeze The Ghost, Quillback, and Spelunker Ghosts, thus triggering a unique reaction from each of them.
    • If Quillback is frozen with the camera, then after enough time has passed, he will roll in the direction he was facing. It can be useful for avoiding his tendency to jump at you without rolling, or repeatedly stunning him and placing a bomb beside him to easily dispatch of him.
  • Spiders, Hang Spiders, and Giant Spiders will fall down from their position on the ceiling in addition to freezing.
• Triggers Arrow Traps and Robots.
• Temporarily removes the skull that orbits the Witch Doctor.
• Collects Scarabs instead of killing them.

The Camera freezing The Ghost in place.

Camera
Type:	Ranged Weapon
Function:	Stuns or kills enemies
Source:	• Shops • Crates
Cost:	$4500 +500
Damage:	Stun / Instant Kill
Notes:	Produces light when used.

The size of the snapshot frame that hits enemies

The Camera is an unusual ranged weapon that has different effects on different enemies. When used, the Spelunker takes a photograph of the area directly in front of them. A large 3x2-tile snapshot frame will briefly appear over the screen.

Functionality

Most normal monsters will be stunned when caught in the frame, but won't receive damage. The stun time from the camera flash is significantly shorter than if they had taken damage, but monsters can easily be stun-locked by taking photos of them repeatedly.

The Camera will kill any undead monsters (such as Skeletons, Jiang Shi, Vampires or even Mummies) caught in the frame.

Other reactions to being snapped:

• Spiders will drop from the ceiling (even Spinner Spiders, which will then detach from their thread and hop around like regular spiders).
• Fire Frogs won't die immediately, but will swell up and explode after a short delay.
• Surprisingly, Bats will be killed by the camera flash. This might be a programming mistake stemming from their shared behavior with Vampires, or it could be explained as the Bat "going blind".
• Shopkeepers will become angry.
• The Ghost will stop chasing you for a brief period as it strikes a "sexy pose", making the Camera the only item in the game that has any effect on it. When combined with a jetpack, the camera makes Ghostrunning much safer.
• If you turn quickly enough after snapping a photo while running into the snapshot area, you can stun yourself, knocking yourself unconscious.
• Anubis won't produce any reaction to the flash.

Spelunky guy seems to get a lot of attention from full-figured women...

The Camera is also useful in dark levels, as the flash will momentarily light up the whole screen when a photo is taken.

The Camera can be used an unlimited number of times.

Trivia

• The idea of a camera being an effective weapon against ghosts and the undead may be a reference to the "Camera Obscura" of the Fatal Frame series.
• The Camera may be inspired by the camera in Nethack, which similarly stuns enemies.
• The Camera can also be used to stun ghosts of dead Spelunkers in co-op adventures and deathmatches. Each Spelunker has a different pose.

Bugs

• If the player uses a camera at the same time it's crushed, the level will remain with the light level of the camera's flash. This is easier to notice in dark levels