is this new vlogger kit really worth the price in this video i rate the components and compare them
with similar products on the market stick around till the end of the video and i'll let you know
about a free download that lays the groundwork for successful videos g'day my name is gary and
you're watching the channel that helps part-time creators reduce the stress of creating videos
if you enjoy my tutorials and reviews then please consider subscribing
now Rode's packaged together the parts you need to complement their highly successful videomicro and
its cousins the ios and the new usb versions of the videomic me if you're a subscriber to
this channel you would have gathered by now that i really love the gear that rode microphones produce
and the video micro and micro me are no exception but are the extras that you get packaged in this
particular kit worth an extra seventy dollars rode microphone sent me this kit free of charge
so i can review it now i'm not getting paid to do this review but it's given me a chance
to have a closer look at the kit and rate it against some quality gear that's on the market
this Rode branded mini tripod and ball head is made completely of high quality plastic and you
know it really feels robust the Rode name set into the legs creates a non-slip feel and gives
you the confidence that it's not going to slip through your fingers the legs can be splayed
in two positions and it creates quite a stable platform for the rig to stand on to adjust the
legs to the second angle you have to swivel the knurled ring at the top of the legs the ball head
is easy to adjust and once locked securely it holds the rig at the angle that you set it at
there is a little downside with the removable ball head once the ball head is screwed completely
onto the legs you can't rotate the horizontal position slot if there's a need to avoid or locate
it above the leg now i raked through the internet to see if there was an identical tripod but
i couldn't find a perfect match now in saying that there's an abundance of good quality mini
tripods that double as handles and selfie sticks and they range in price from 15 to 35 dollars US
and they can be purchased from suppliers like neewer movo and Ulanzi and small rig now if you've
found a great mini tripod then please let me know in the comments section the mobile phone grip
supplied in the kit is quite a good choice you know a phone mount only has to do two things well
hold your thousand dollar phone so it won't fall on the concrete and also have a convenient place
to mount any accessories the smart grip mount does both well and unlike a lot of other mounts made
of a combination of plastic and metal the smart grip as rode calls it is all metal construction
it has a quarter thread on the bottom and one on either side to allow other attachments
even mount the grip sideways if you have to on the top of the grip is a cold shoe slot for
accessories like the light or the accessory bar depending on the kit that you purchase
the only negative thing i discovered was the smart grip is not so intelligent when
it comes to holding smaller mobiles my old iphone 5 needed a booster seat to hold it in
so check the grip limitations in the specifications i did a search for comparative
products for a price comparison and found one that's almost identical apart from the brand name
they list their phone grip for 15 us the micro led light is a little ripper
a full charge via the usbc socket will give you four hours of fill light now it's very
well made and engineered mainly of metal with a power button on the top that toggles on and off
and has four levels of light intensity being so well sealed i could pretty well guarantee that
it's water if not rain resistant i did some testing outside with the sun behind my head
and the micro led light really did a good job of removing heavy shadowing on my face
it didn't do anything to make me look any younger but that'd take a miracle
there are two improvements that could be made i was a little disappointed that the switch
circuitry doesn't memorize your selected light level you know a lot of quality lights incorporate
a memory feature and the other thing that i think would frustrate some is the cold shoe mount
is only a threaded rod with a lock nut i found a couple of times that i bumped the light and it
became loose searching the web for an identical product as a price comparison i ended up finding
a match and it was advertised at 30 us from a number of retailers that brings us to the center
point of Rode's vlogger kit the video micro or as in this sample the video mic me dash l
this mic is one of the most popular mini shotgun microphones in the world you know you can watch
hours of reviews of youtubers pitting the video micro and its cousins against other
brands of similar looking microphones and in the majority of cases the rode videomicro comes out
marginally on top sure the difference is not much but most admit that paying less money
will sacrifice audio quality vibration suppression and an effective fluffy windscreen so for the sake
of the comparison and admitting that there will be an acceptable difference in sound quality
saramonic, comica, boya they they have lightning and usb options so we'll use those as a comparison and
they range in price from 60 to 80 dollars us summing up there are cheap ways to purchase what you need
to mount your phone and improve your audio and lighting but you have to decide if you
want to sacrifice quality not something that i'd be skipping especially your audio the led light
smart grip and tripod handle are priced closely to similar items sold by other retailers and from the
pricing i see on amazon you won't be out of pocket buying individual components if you want to buy
one or two to add to what you have already if you're shopping around for a filmmaking rig you're
more than likely creating content for youtube you know i know firsthand how frustrating it is
to create what you think is really great content for youtube and you see little return for your
effort now in the description i provided a link to a free worksheet that you can download that
highlights the key steps to creating successful videos now along with that free worksheet i
provided a discount code for the course how to create successful youtube videos that link will
take you to an evaluation page where you can check out the topics covered in the course and there's
also some free videos to give you an idea of what the course will be like now if you have any
information that you'd like to share or questions about the equipment i've reviewed then please
type them in the comments section until next time stay safe and i'll catch you later