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• on-camera
  on-camera

  adjective

  within the range of a motion-picture or television camera; while being filmed or televised.
• on camera
  on camera

  Being filmed, as in When the talk-show host began, I wasn't sure if we were on camera. This usage dates from the first half of the 1900s, soon after the birth of motion-picture and television filming. The same is true of the antonym off camera, meaning “outside the view of a movie or TV camera,” as in Go ahead and scratch—we're off camera now.

on-camera

American  

[on-kam-er-uh, -kam-ruh, awn-] / ˈɒnˈkæm ər ə, -ˈkæm rə, ˈɔn- /

adjective

1. within the range of a motion-picture or television camera; while being filmed or televised.

   on-camera blunders; The assassination happened on-camera.

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on camera Idioms  

1. Being filmed, as in When the talk-show host began, I wasn't sure if we were on camera. This usage dates from the first half of the 1900s, soon after the birth of motion-picture and television filming. The same is true of the antonym off camera, meaning “outside the view of a movie or TV camera,” as in Go ahead and scratch—we're off camera now.

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Etymology

Origin of on-camera

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

The 28-year-old spent five minutes with the host broadcaster for an on-camera interview before a 10-minute news conference with written reporters.

From BBC • May 22, 2026

Unlike the first film, where a smaller budget and the fear of incurring Anna Wintour’s wrath kept many fashion figures from appearing on-camera, the sequel goes all-out.

From Salon • May 1, 2026

Watch as McDonald’s chief takes his first on-camera bite since going viral.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026

"I think she's doing a very good job," added Trump, in his first on-camera comments since the shooting on Saturday.

From Barron's • Jan. 27, 2026

But that fear paled next to the deal the reporters had offered: a view of Mount St. Helens from the sky, in exchange for an on-camera interview.

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone