CANCEL DANGYCAM
Convenience always comes at a cost. Before Dangycam- well, before the current fixation on handycams took over TikToks and fashion week aftermovies- Thomas Dang was already deep in it, shooting Miami’s scene[1] onbefore it became a trend.
Now, Dangycam is an LA based brand that specializes in designing and fabricating specialty accessories and tapeless camcorder solutions.
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Instead of leaving the nostalgia of tapes[2] behind, he spearheaded a movement with the help of his friends Devin [@devbuild.digital] and Gunner [@assortm3nt]: bespoke cables, modular mounts, and functional upgrades that allow videographers to record tapeless without sacrificing aesthetics. What started out as a ghetto grass roots company has recently surged with a polarizing popularity, selling out minutes after every drop[3]. Some argue that it's an overpriced convenience....
But some people can only shit on Dangy's name rather than appreciate the vision. It’s sleek. It’s functional. Convenient. And as he said, he's not the first to come up with this shit, even referencing this video he discovered back in 2020 [link found here]. The internet has its opinions, but so do we...
On Thursday, 1/30/25, Null Society sat down with Thomas Dang at the Downloads HQ to talk about the backlash, the price of modernization, and why people are still buying into the hype of nostalgia.
KM: Would you address the hate you’ve been getting on r/canceldangycam?
DANGY: It’s just funny as fuck. That’s why I make all the stickers and shit talk.
KM: I mean, they do have some valid points—not entirely valid, but you know, anything with hype comes with a cost. It has resale value.
DANGY: Yeah, a price tag.
But I’m doing this alone—I set the price, and people buy it. Three cameras sold just this morning. One of the Redditors actually messaged me, and by the end of it, he was like, “Oh, bro, now I get it. If I ever see something on Reddit, I’ll defend you.”
I explained where I was coming from—people want the luxury of having it set up for them. DangyCam is a bootstrap brand. It’s not a proper company yet, but it will be. We provide the parts at cost—the mounts, the cables—so people can build it themselves. But most don’t want to.
Athletes[4], working professionals—they need a camera that’s ready to go. And I give them all-star customer service. If a camera breaks, I’ll replace it. If it’s an emergency, I’ll handle it. I talk to them directly, give them my personal number, and yeah, they pay a premium for that.
KM: So, at the end of the day, all you’re charging a premium for is the full camera and it being conveniently built—mainly for those professionals who don’t have the time.
DANGY: Exactly. I don’t claim to have invented this. I found it on YouTube, did my research, tested cables that didn’t work, found the ones that did, and built relationships with the guys making the mounts.
Devin was the first to start making mounts and cables when he came to LA. We did Cameras and Coffee together. Same with Gunner. We collaborate—none of this happens alone.
We still make everything accessible. Gunner even uploaded his 3D mount file for free so people can print it themselves. And now other sellers are offering tapeless builds because Dangycam made it popular.
Cameras like the SC7 with the crash zoom—we put that on the map. Now people can reverse search, find the cameras we use, and get them cheaper on eBay.
KM: So the people who complain about affordability, saying DangyCam is making the barrier of entry harder—do you think it’s just that they’re lazy and don’t want to do the research?
DANGY: Yeah, they’re lazy. Everything is there if they want to build it themselves. We give them the resources, but most people just want it built and ready.
KM: Have you ever had a previous customer reach out about a faulty camera?
DANGY: Just one. One out of a hundred.
KM: How did that go?
DANGY: Bro, they still owe me the camera. I even made them a return label, but they still haven’t shipped it back.
KM: That’s interesting because a lot of vintage camera stores that offer tech support have a bad rep for selling faulty cameras when they promise a premium product—then gaslighting customers when things go wrong.
DANGY: Yeah, exactly. But I set everything up fairly. There’s a little guilt in selling these cameras at this price, but I’m generous. I throw in extras—hats, shirts, accessories—because I actually care.
And if it weren’t for us, nobody else would know about this. Even old accessories—like this fisheye clip-on lens—I found one, posted it, and now people are scrambling to get it.
KM: What made you start using Handycams in the first place?
DANGY: It’s just me. It’s part of my life. I shoot in the field, bring this aesthetic into the industry, and people love it. A lot of kids now have never actually shot on tape. They don’t know what it’s like to sit through 60 minutes of footage.
With the Powerplay[5], the look is close—it’s not exact, but it’s similar. And honestly, most people are gonna process it further, make it look even grungier. Commercial clients don’t care if it’s real tape—they care that it looks like it and that it saves them time.
KM: When did you first start shooting Handycam professionally?
DANGY: Seven years ago. Back when I started bringing VHS camcorders to the Miami film scene, nobody else was doing it.
It used to be all DSLRs and 5Ds, then I’d show up to Rolling Loud with a Gemini Red, just bare bones. The next year, I pulled out a Handycam. Now, I use the smallest one I have—not even a DangyCam. That’s just my setup.
KM: When you first reached out to Gunner, was it because you wanted something more compact? More modular?
DANGY: Yeah, I needed something seamless, clean—not clunky. When you’re in the field, you need a setup that works. People react differently when you pull up with a Red vs. a Handycam.
KM: At the end of the day, people are just hating when you’ve done the time, done the research, and have the experience. And you’re a creative yourself—this is just a product you made for yourself.
DANGY: Yeah.
KM: And you’re sharing it with the world.
DANGY: Essentially, it’s all for me.
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