The short film “Leica – The Hunt” caused a lot of trouble for the German camera maker to the point that the Chinese government banned the word “Leica” from social media. As several LeicaRumors readers already noted (see this and this discussions) the iconic photo titled “Tank Man” was shot with a Nikon camera. The German magazine Der Spiegel reports that all four photographers that captured the events in Tiananmen Square – Jeff Widener (AP), Charlie Cole (Newsweek), Stuart Franklin (Magnum) and Arthur Tsang (Reuters) were all using Nikon cameras:
Four versions of “Tank Man” by (from top left, clockwise) Jeff Widener (AP), Stuart Franklin (Magnum), Charlie Cole (Newsweek), and Arthur Tsang (Reuters)
Update – the fifth photo by Terril Jones was also taken with a Nikon – an F-801 with an AF Nikkor 28-85mm f/3.5 lens (thanks Terril).
Petapixel found some additional/interesting information (taken from The New York Times):
Cole was shooting from the same balcony as Franklin, and he hid his roll of film inside a toilet.
“I […] placed the tank roll in a plastic film can and wrapped it in a plastic bag and attached it to the flush chain in the tank of the toilet,” Cole told the Times. “I hid my cameras as best I could in the room. Within an hour, the PSB forced their way in and started searching the room. After about five minutes, they discovered the cameras and ripped the film out of each, seemingly satisfied that they had neutralized the coverage. They then forced me to sign a confession that I had been photographing during martial law and confiscated my passport.
“Sometime later, I was able to return to the room and retrieve the film […]”
Franklin’s photos were smuggled out of China by a French student inside a box of tea.
