By the K-Pulso team · Published
A fancam is a video of a performance shot with the camera fixed on one member of the group from start to finish. In Korean it’s called 직캠 (jikcam), from jikjeop (“directly”) and cam (“camera”): footage shot directly, without the cuts of the TV broadcast.
From a fan’s camera to the official channels
At first, fancams were filmed by the fans themselves at concerts, festivals and fansigns, often with huge cameras and lenses. They uploaded them to their own sites and to YouTube so the rest of the fandom could watch their favorite idol for the whole song.
The story everyone tells is that of Hani from EXID. In 2014, a fancam of her dancing to “Up & Down” at an event went viral, and weeks later the song, which had gone almost unnoticed, climbed to the top of the Korean charts. Since then, nobody doubts the power of a good fancam.
Today the TV channels that broadcast the music shows publish their own official fancams, in 4K or even 8K, of every member at every performance. You’ll find them on channels like M2 (from Mnet), KBS Kpop, SBS KPOP X INKIGAYO and MBCkpop. These are the ones K-Pulso follows in its fancam list.
Types of fancam
- Individual fancam (직캠, sometimes with the show’s name, like “MPD직캠” or “4K 직캠”): one member for the whole performance. The most common kind.
- Facecam (페이스캠): a close-up of the face, so you don’t miss a single expression.
- Fullcam (풀캠): the whole group in a fixed wide shot, to see the full choreography and formations.
- Vertical (세로캠): filmed vertically, made for phones and short videos.
- Relay dance (릴레이댄스): an M2 format where the group dances the song in one take, passing the spotlight from one member to the next, often outdoors.
- Fan-made fancams: the classic ones, filmed from the crowd at concerts or events. They have a charm of their own, even if the image isn’t perfect.
Why they blow up
Because you see your bias the whole time. In the TV broadcast the camera jumps from one member to another; in a fancam you don’t miss a second of the person you care about.
Because you can see the details. The gestures, the energy, how each member handles their part of the choreography, and those few seconds that become the highlight of the song.
Because they help people discover new members. Many fans fall for a group through the fancam of someone they didn’t know. It’s the fastest way for an idol to get noticed.
Because the numbers matter. Fandoms watch and share fancams to push them past round numbers, like one million or ten million views, and celebrate it as their idol’s achievement.
Because they’re the raw material for edits. On TikTok and Instagram, many fans cut fancams to the beat of other songs, with transitions and effects. If you like them, our TikTok has edits of the fancams of the moment.
How to find fancams
On YouTube, searching for the group or idol’s name together with the word 직캠 or fancam and the song title works really well. Official channels usually post them on the day of the performance or the day after.
On K-Pulso, the fancam list is ranked by the views gained today, over the last week and over the last month, plus the most viewed of each year. Tap any of them to watch it right here.
The fancams climbing the most today
See the full listA bit of etiquette
- If you use a fancam in an edit, credit the channel you took it from.
- Don’t re-upload full fancams as if they were yours: share the original link, which is what adds views for your idol.
- Fancams are for performances and public events. Filming idols in their private lives is not what fans do.