Best Video Podcast Equipment Bundles in 2023

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Best Video Podcast Equipment Bundles in 2023

April 25, 2023 β€’ About 14 min. read

video-podcast-equipment

Video podcast equipment bundles can be super helpful for podcasters, but it can be hard to pick the right one. That is why we are here to give you some insight! πŸ€“

In this guide we are going to review what we think are the eight best video podcast equipment bundles in 2023.

Four of them are kits made for using your own smartphone πŸ“±:

The other four come with a video camera πŸ“· included:

The sooner we start this guide, the sooner your start making great videos– so let’s goooo! πŸš€

Best podcasting equipment that works alongside your own smartphone

SmallRig All-in-One Video Kit Ultra

Structure

Tripod

This kit comes with a small tripod (2.3 x 6.0 x 5.8 cm) made of aluminum alloy, plastic, and silicone.

Cage

The phone cage is made out of the same materials. Its setup can be adjusted to to fit any size smartphone. 🌎

It has twelve threaded holes and four cold shoe mounts to fit everything you could ever want on the cage, including the handles, light, and microphone that come with the bundle.

It works in both the vertical position and the horizontal position which is great if you want to change how you shoot the video (vertical video for social, horizontal video for YouTube, etc.) ↔️↕️

Power Bank Holder

Taking video can drain your phone’s battery quickly. To be on the safe side, it is good to have a power bank attached to make sure you get the full recording. This structure has a little piece of gear set up for just that job. πŸ”‹

Microphone

The audio capture in this bundle is a Wave S1 Lite cardioid microphone with a condenser (read our podcast microphone blog post to learn more about general microphone details and features). It has a shock mount so it can attach to the cage without picking up vibration noises. Also, the bundle comes with a windproof foam cover as well as a furry windshield. 🌬️

The microphone cord has two 3.5mm heads. The kit also includes a 3.5mm to Lightning/USB-C adapter so you can record audio and charge simultaneously.

Lighting

The equipment bundle comes with one small, square light that fits on the phone cage with a cold shoe mount. The light is a P108 RGB LED Light. It is small, but impressive with: 108 high CRI lamp beads, over 36,000 RGB colors, and twelve different special light effects. The light’s color temperature range is 2700K-6500K. The battery lasts a good 130 minutes. 🌈

Price: $249.00

Beamoβ„’ Studio Creator Kit

Structure

Rather than a tripod, this video podcast equipment bundle comes with a tabletop stand that can be raised up all the way to 95cm. It is made to hold the ring light at the top.

Ring Light Cage

The ring light cage has four spots for cold shoe mounts, one of which should be used for the podcasting microphone. β­•

Phone Mount and Arm

The phone mount is attached to the stand with a GorillaPod Arm. The arm can be twisted in any direction so you should be able to easy switch between vertical and horizontal as needed without losing quality. 🦍

Microphone

The microphone is a Wavo Mobile Mic which has a condenser and a cardioid pattern. It comes with a TRS cable and a TRRS cable. You will need to buy your own adapters if your phone cannot connect with these. 🎀

It comes with a Rybote shock mount as well as windjammer to make sure you are only picking up the sound you want.

Lighting

Lighting is this bundle’s strength. It comes with two lights: A key light and a background light. πŸ’‘

The key light (for your face) is LED ring light. It has ten levels of brightness. You can chose from cool, warm, and daylight temperature settings. It is USB powered.

The background light is meant to be set behind the onscreen host. It can make dull wall in a tiny room look like a fancy production studio! Choose from twelve colors and ten levels of brightness. It is USB powered. 🎨

Price: $139.95

RODE Vlogger Kit for Smartphones

Structure

Tripod

This podcast video equipment comes with a Rode Tripod 2, which is short and meant to sit on a desk or table.

SmartGrip Phone Holder

The Rode SmartGrip Phone Holder attaches to the top of the tripod. The grip is made for phones that are between 65mm – 85mm wide, which should cover most phones. It is set up to hold your phone horizontally only. ↔️

This SmartGrip Phone Holder comes with a cold shoe mount so you can attach the kit’s microphone and light on top of it.

Microphone

The mic for this is the Rode VideoMicro ultra-compact camera mount shotgun condenser microphone and has a cardioid sound pick-up pattern. Rode is a very well respected microphone manufacturer so you know you can trust it in recording your podcasting audio. πŸ’†

The “Universal” kit microphone has a 3.5mm TRRS connector cable, but Rode also offers a USB-C editions where the microphones use a USB-C connector and iOS editions where the microphones use a Lightning connector.

The video equipment bundle comes with a Rycote Lyre shock mount and a furry windshield. πŸƒ

Lighting

This gear bundle includes a MicroLED light with a built in battery. The battery is charged through a USB Type-C cable and can last four hours. It has four different brightness settings. The light comes with a clip-on diffuser to soften the light, as well as eight different clip-on color filters that produce cool to warm shades. πŸ•ΆοΈ

Price: $149.00

Ulanzi Smartphone Filmmaking and Vlogging Kit

Structure

Tripod + Arms

The tripod is made out of rubber and spherical joints so you can get it set exact how you want it. The equipment bundle comes with two more arms, made the same way as the tripod. These arms can hold lights, mics, or even a second camera! They can also be used to wrap around things like vertical poles to help steady the rig in a multiple heights and situations. πŸͺœ

Phone Mount

The phone mount is attached to the tripod via a cold shoe mount. It fits any phone size. Without removing the phone, you can adjust the mount to hold your phone vertically or horizontally— a great way to save you time. ⏱️

Microphone

The microphone is a condenser mic with a cardioid pickup pattern. It uses a 3.5mm TRS cable, but the equipment bundle comes with adapters so you should be able to plug it in to any phone you want to use. πŸ’β€β™€οΈ

The bundle does include a furry windshield and a foam screener, as well as a shock mount so the mic does not pick up vibrations through the tripod.

Lighting

This podcaster’s video equipment bundle comes with a square fill light. The light has 49 light beads. You can select from five brightness levels. The color temperature ranges from 5500K to 200K. The light comes with an internal, rechargeable battery. πŸ”¦

Price: $79.95

Best equipment with a video camera included

Canon EOS R10 Content Creator Kit

Tripod

The tripod is a small, HG-100TBR Tripod meant to set on a desk or table table top. The head has a 1/4′-20 mount for the camera.

Microphone

The external mic is a Canon DM-E100 Directional Microphone to shoe mounts on the top of the camera (no shock mount). It has a 3.5mm cable that plugs into the kit’s camera. It comes with a windshield. πŸŽ™οΈ

Lighting

This equipment bundle does not include any lighting. Luckily the camera can capture high quality video in a variety of lighting settings with an ISO range of 100-3200 (to learn more about camera details, check out this blog post).

Camera

The camera is a Canon EOS R10. It can record in 4K which can be super helpful during the editing process. It also has unlimited recording time (it does not automatically stop recording at 30 minutes). The camera comes with an SD card, but also has a mini-HDMI port and Type USB-C port for transferring footage. 😍

The camera comes with one lens, the Canon RF-S 18-45mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM Lens. The lens does connect with the camera’s autofocus feature and is made to reduce glare.

The interface is intuitive and the EOS Webcam Utility software allows your computer to use the camera for live streaming. 🀩

Note: Canon has a few different kits like this on the market, just with different cameras. We choose this one because it has the best camera, but check out the others if you want to save a little bit of money. πŸ€‘

Price: $1,199.00

Sony ZV-1 Digital Camera Vlogging and Online Video Kit

Tripod

This video podcast equipment bundles comes with a Sony GP-VPT2BT Wireless Shooting Grip which acts as a small tabletop tripod. The head is compatible with many Sony cameras. 🦾

Microphone

The kit’s mic is a RODE VideoMicro Ultracompact Camera-Mount Shotgun Microphone (just like in the Rode phone recording kit). It does come with a shock mount. The condenser microphone uses a cardioid pickup pattern. The 3.5mm connector cable plugs into the kit’s camera. However, Rode does sell TRS to XLR adapters in case you want to record to an XLR input podcast mixer or some other kind of audio recorder.

Note: The camera in this kit does have an internal mic as well, but the Rode mic provides a better quality recording. πŸ‘

Lighting

This equipment bundle does not include any lighting gear. The camera does have a “Soft Skin Effect” feature that can somewhat mimic diffuse lighting.

Camera

The Sony ZV-1 Digital Camera can shoot in 4K. You have to adjust the settings if you want to shoot continuously for more than 30 minutes. πŸŽ›οΈ

The camera has a built-in ZEISS 24-70mm-equivalent standard zoom lens and has an auto-focus feature.

The kit comes with one SD memory card and File Rescue software in case you accidentally delete some footage from the card that you meant to save. The card uses the updated UHS-II interface for fast transfers. πŸƒ

The bundle also includes a micro USB cable. You can use the micro USB cable to connect to a computer and use the camera for live streaming your podcast.

Price: $967.00

Nikon Z50 Creator’s Kit

Tripod

This podcast video equipment bundle includes a JOBY GorillaPod 3K Tripod with a Ball Head. It also includes a SmallRig mounting plate so the camera fits perfectly on it. The camera can be secured vertically or horizontally on the tripod in order to take advantage of its vertical filming capabilities. πŸ₯‡

Microphone

You probably will not be surprised to learn that this kit also uses the good ol’ RODE VideoMicro Ultracompact Camera-Mount Shotgun Microphone… condenser, cardioid, and 3.5mm connector just like usual.

Lighting

This equipment bundle does not come with any lighting gear. The camera does have Active-D Lighting which can be helpful in situations with strong lighting contrast. β˜€οΈ

Camera

The Nikon Z50 mirrorless camera can film in both a vertical position and horizontal. This is great if you are recording for different social media formats. The camera records in 4K. However, it does automatically cut off video recording after 30 minutes. The only way around this is to connect the camera to a computer with an HDMI cord and record through that interface. πŸ’»

The camera does have a built-in mic, although it is better to use the external Rode.

The lens is a Nikon NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR Lens with a silent auto focus motor.

You have to purchase third-party software if you want to use this Nikon Z50 setup for live video streaming. πŸ˜”

Price: $1,146.95

IDOLCAM VIP Package

Tripod

The kit does not come with a tripod, only a selfie stick. However, the camera body itself is made to securely sit on a desk or table top.

Microphone

The kit comes with a tiny VlogStar microphone. It looks like a little thumb drive, but instead of a USB, it is a mini TRS connector. It’s a directional condenser microphone, with a cardioid pattern. It plugs directly into the camera body. ✴️

Lighting

The IDOLCAM comes with both a tiny ring light and a spotlight. The ring light encircles the lens and is meant to produce a nice soft light for the podcaster’s face. The spotlight is in the shape of a cartoon rabbit’s head and locks in above the lens. The spotlight is meant to provide stronger, harsher light if needed. 🌟

Camera

The camera is similar to a small action camera. It has a 4-gimbal axis which give you a lot of picture steadiness and flexibility. It does record video in 4K and can last for about 3 hours when recording continuously. πŸ’ͺ

The camera comes with two lenses, a 16mm wide-angle lens and a 10mm fisheye lens.

The camera uses a microSD card for storage (but it does not come with the kit). It has a micro HDMI port for output and a micro USB for output and charging. You can use the camera for live streaming. πŸ“Ί

Price: $550.00

Getting Started with Your New Kit

Once you have read all the reviews and picked out which exact video podcast equipment bundle you want, now it is time to record some podcasts! We just want to include tips at the end of this setup guide to help you get started ✌️

First: Audio Test Runs

You may have noticed that none of the cameras in our reviews had audio headphone jacks. You should use the single jack on most phones for the external microphone. 🎧

Sometimes you can get headphones to connect through Bluetooth in these situations, but that is not guaranteed.

Since you cannot monitor your audio setup in real time (assuming you are the host), definitely take a few test recordings and listen to their sound quality before you record a full episode. You may notice background sounds that need to be eliminated, or you may find that you need to move closer or farther away from the mic. The less work you leave for editing, the better. ‼️

Second: Pick a Good Space

Second, your setup matters. As you see, these are pretty bare-boned kits. They are not made to transform an entire recording space. If you do not have access to a pro studio, at least pick a spot in your home that is quiet, has nice lighting, and does not have anything distracting in the background. 🧘

And one last note: If you are still on the fence about getting a video setup, check out our blog post, “Podcast vs Youtube” to learn how you can boost your podcast via YouTube. After you ready that, you are probably going to decide to go for it and buy the video equipment!

Third: Think Through Live Streaming

Some of these equipment bundle kits have video cameras that can live stream content. Remember: Just because you can live stream your podcast episode, that doesn’t mean you should. Consider if live streaming suits your podcasting production process.

With live streaming podcasts, you don’t have the benefit of editing. You might not know if you need to adjust one of your microphones for audio quality You technically can wear headphones and monitor the live audio, but that can be tough to do. The same goes for the video visual aspects– if something looks funny, you usually can’t fix it live. πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ

That’s not to say you should never create live podcast episodes. If you are confident in how you have prepared your equipment and setup, great! Go for it!

Events can be a good time to do a live recording. You already have to get your setup perfect for your audience so why not live stream? Plus you can pick up the energetic sound of the crowd to add to the podcast. πŸ’ƒ

Good Luck!

That’s all from us for now. Hope this guide gives you the confidence to start making great podcast video episodes! As always, feel free to reach out to us with any podcasting questions via email ([email protected]) or our socials: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. πŸ’œ

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April 25, 2023

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