# Expensive camera

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Name

expensive camera

Appearance

expensive camera

Base price

200 zm

Weight

12

Material

plastic

Monster use

Will not be used by monsters.

An expensive camera is a type of tool that appears in Nethack. It is fragile and made of plastic.

Contents

1 Generation
2 Effects
3 Strategy
4 History
5 Origin
6 Messages
7 Variants

7.1 SlashTHEM
7.2 SpliceHack

8 References

Generation
Expensive cameras are always randomly generated uncursed with 30 to 99 charges.
All Tourists start with an expensive camera. 

Effects
When applied in the direction of a monster that has eyes, the flash of an expensive camera (whose beam is represented by !) will blind that monster, as well as typically scaring it - applying a cursed camera has a 50% chance of blinding you for 1d25 turns instead when applied. Applying a camera at a sleeping monster will wake it up with no further effects. [1] Gremlins will take d4 damage from the flash, which cannot kill them this way.[2]
Affected monsters that are adjacent are blinded permanently, while others that are farther away are blinded for up to 13 turns, depending on the distance.[3] Monsters hit by the flash will also flee with a 3⁄4 chance, provided they are no more than 2 squares away from you - shopkeepers cannot be scared by the flash of an expensive camera.[4]
If wielded and used to attack, the expensive camera will break and do no damage; it shares this property with the cream pie.[5] Breaking a camera in any way has a 1⁄3 chance of releasing a "picture-painting demon", which will be a homunculus 2⁄3 of the time and an imp the remaining 1⁄3 - the resulting demon will be peaceful unless the camera was cursed.[6]
Like most other tools, a camera has no limit on charging. Applying an unpaid expensive camera induces a 10% usage fee.

Strategy
An expensive camera is a solid escape item and scaring tool, and is the only known item that can cause the Riders to flee from you. Cameras are also the only way to permanently blind a monster, which is useful if you need it alive, but are unable to render it peaceful and don't want it to chase you (often the case with foocubi) - remember that blinded hostile monsters will not respect Elbereth and may still attack you in melee while fleeing, particularly in closed spaces where they may not be able to get clear of you.
A camera can be a viable method for blinding yourself via applying it at ., either in order to use your intrinsic telepathy, or else to avoid the longer blinding from a yellow light when it explodes (d25 turns v. 10d20). The risk of accidentally blinding yourself with a cursed camera is usually only a concern for cameras found in bones piles.
You can use a camera to wake up a sleeping monster, including your pet, making it useful for Knights in particular; this does not work on paralyzed monsters, and should be avoided around rooms of monster that you don't want to wake up prematurely, e.g. in barracks. Pacifist and illiterate conduct players will appreciate having an expensive camera to scare monsters, as will players attempting a protection racket.

History
The expensive camera first appears in Hack 1.0, introduced as part of the Tourist role's starting inventory and the TOURIST compile-time option.

Origin
The "picture-painting demon" generated from a broken camera is based on how cameras work in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of novels.

Messages
You succeed in destroying the expensive camera. Congratulations!
You broke a wielded expensive camera by attacking a monster with it.
The picture-painting demon is released!
You generated an imp or homunculus by breaking an expensive camera.
Variants
Many variants incorporate the advent calendar room, which may have an expensive camera as the Christmas present in the 24th room.

SlashTHEM
SlashTHEM incorporates the photography patch created by Nephi, allowing you to take photographs of various things and store them in a photo album.
Graduates start the game with an expensive camera.

SpliceHack
In SpliceHack and its rewritten version, the expensive camera is retooled as a "holographic card" for Cartomancers, and otherwise functions exactly the same. Their quest nemesis, Dal Zethire, also generates with an expensive camera.

References

↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 3119

↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 3126

↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 3121: minimum non-adjacent dist2() is 4, so no more than 1 + 50/4 turns

↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 3135

↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 892: attacking with a wielded camera

↑ src/dothrow.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 1943: release_camera_demon is described here