Depth of Field

Abstract

Visual journalists were early adopters of DSLR cameras as a technology for the production of video journalism. While early DSLR cameras used by visual journalists were capable of capturing high-definition moving images with superior quality when compared to smaller sensor video cameras, they were designed for photography and thus presented several challenges in the context of filmmaking. DSLR cameras are often rigged with additional stabilization, audio recorders, or specialized lens in order to optimize their functions for video production. This study employs Bourdieu’s constructs of the field and habitus in confluence with the social construction of technology to examine how visual journalists reimagined DSLR cameras as video cameras and how this construction informed their professional practice and filmmaking style. Based largely on nine in-depth interviews with visual journalists who produce video journalism, this study presents how the employment of DSLR cameras informed entirely new habitus and cinematography styles while also supporting existing video journalism conventions. More experienced participants described their experiences in the context of transition, while participants early in their careers described the DSLR as part of their professional distinction.