What my video camera means to me: journalist Elisa Iannacone

"When you tell a story in a way that's unexpected, you start to reframe people's views on it, and suddenly an audience that was once quite passive – because they feel like they've seen that image many times – becomes curious," says journalist and documentary cinematographer Elisa Iannacone. It's a belief that has driven her to create a diverse portfolio of work, shooting videos and documentaries in more than 30 countries and across six continents.

A trained cinematographer, Elisa's work has featured in National Geographic, Newsweek and VICE magazine and on BBC World News. Drawn to human rights stories and underreported issues, she has covered war zones and natural disasters, from domestic violence in Iraqi refugee camps to the devastation of Cyclone Idai in Mozambique in 2019.

"I didn't really know what I was going to find," she recalls, on arriving in the city of Beira, Mozambique, 90% of which had been destroyed by the storm. Connecting with a group of artists who had lost their musical instruments, she was able to tell a wider story of the devastation through the lens of their personal experience. "I try to find stories that are beyond the facts – for me, that story felt so meaningful."

Elisa has also dedicated six years to The Spiral of Containment, a long-term multimedia project that addresses the impact of sexual violence and finds ways for survivors to express themselves visually "through the realm of the imagination". Exhibited at Bargehouse at OXO Tower Wharf in London, England, the immersive art installation is set to become a touring exhibition.

Here, Elisa reveals the kit that she relies on in the field, and shares her experiences shooting with the Canon EOS C70 and the Canon XA55 camcorder.

Elisa had been using a Canon EOS C300 Mark II (now succeeded by the Canon EOS C300 Mark III), a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and a Canon EOS 7D to shoot her news and documentary footage. However, she was one of the first professionals to shoot with the Canon EOS C70, filming with Canon's smallest Cinema EOS camera and a Canon XA55 on a cliff camp in Wales.

The overnight shoot allowed Elisa to trial the low-light and infrared capabilities of both cameras. Dangling from ropes and balancing on a portaledge was a good test for the cameras' autofocus and image stabilisation features.

Elisa was immediately drawn to the small form factor of the EOS C70, a key requirement for journalists working in sensitive environments. "A compact camera is very helpful because you might need to hide it underneath a burka," she says. "You don't want to call attention to yourself. Sometimes it's not just about your own safety, it's about putting other people at ease. When you come in with big kit, lights and everything, people can be intimidated.

"Even though the EOS C70 is a cinema camera, it's just so compact – it's amazing how much is inside of that body. The ability to work with RF lenses is great because the communication between the lens and the body is faster than with other lenses, which means that the [accuracy] of your image is that much higher."

With a wealth of recording formats, the Canon EOS C70 offers journalists versatility in the field. "I was shooting XF-AVC 4:2:2 10-bit, but you can shoot other codecs that are about half the weight of XF-AVC, which, if you need to edit something on your laptop and turn it around very quickly, is very helpful," says Elisa. "I love the fact that you can output straight to PQ and HLG, because it saves you time on colour correct. If you want to go to broadcast, you've already got the industry standard."

The camera's standout DGO sensor, the same as that found in its Cinema EOS stablemate, the Canon EOS C300 Mark III, offers 16+ stops of dynamic range when shooting in Canon Log 2. Paired with the camera's built-in ND filters, this gives powerful control over light. As well as being able to shoot past sunset and extract detail from the rocks and waves with just the light of the moon, Elisa could see practical applications for her work in hostile environments.

"Turning on a light can attract attention and make a situation dangerous – for yourself, and for the people that you're interviewing," she says. "You need a camera that's going to be able to read into the shadows. The more latitude you have the better, and this camera did not disappoint.

"The beauty of the internal ND filters is that I can actually control my lighting situation. I can get a more beautiful depth of field and have that bokeh effect. I can control that with a little knob, which is awesome. A camera such as the EOS C70, where you can rely on the autofocus and image stabilisation, then have such a vast choice in terms of output, makes your life a lot easier. It's really just an excellent body."