Spider-Man is a Canon user. And a Nikon user. And a… Yashica user? It's true – the world's pluckiest Avenger loves old SLRs.
While ol' webhead is best known for being a friendly neighborhood superhero who swings across the New York skyline, busting bad guys while making quips, his alter ego is mild-mannered high school / college (depending on continuity) student-come-photographer-come-photojournalist, Peter Parker.
• Read more: Best film cameras
It stands to reason, then, that he's a dab hand at photography – but what camera does Spider-Man use? Well, an industrious film camera fanatic on YouTube has examined three of Spidey's feature film appearances in which he's seen snapping away with real-life cameras.
The video (below) by Azrael Knight, whose YouTube channel is manna from heaven for film photography lovers, looks at three iterations of Spider-Man starting in 1977 with the feature-length pilot of The Amazing Spider-Man television series, starring Nicholas Hammond.
Here, Parker's camera of choice is the all-black Nikon F2 – a camera that would have cost him around $400 with a 50mm lens in 1977, which is roughly $1,900 (approximately £1,380 / AU$2,580) in 2021. Pretty pricey, for a college student!
By the time we get to 2002's pivotal Spider-Man, starring Tobey Maguire, the web-slinger has switched brands and is now using a Canon F-1 – the newer 1981 model, rather than the 1971 original, which Knight reckons would have cost Parker $1,600 at the time or $2,680 (£1,950 / AU$3,635) in today's money. Even pricier, for a high school student!
Finally, we reach 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man starring Andrew Garfield. This time round, Spidey – once again a high school student – is using a 1973-era Yashica Electro 35 GSN rangefinder, though Knight doesn't give a contemporary purchase price this time.
The current iteration of Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, portrayed by Tom Holland, has yet to be seen taking photographs on anything other than a smartphone (his photography arc not yet being fully developed). The big question is, will the MCU have him once again using a film SLR or will be have graduated to a DSLR or mirrorless camera?
Read more:
Best Nikon cameras
Best Canon cameras
Best DSLRs
Best mirrorless cameras
