Top Gear Picks from NAB 2023 for Content Creators

It’s our favorite time of year and we’ve got Josh on the showroom floor to bring you the best of NAB 2023! Follow along as he highlights his favorite new products coming down the pike for everyday creatives. Viva las Vegas!

Kondor Blue Cage Systems for Sony FX6

We’re loving Kondor Blue’s new cage system for the Sony FX6, for multiple reasons. The first is that they’ve created their own top handle. It still uses the same record capabilities so you’ll have that great record option right on top. They also added a special v-mount battery plate. If you’re an FX shooter at all and you’ve used other cages, you’ve noticed it gets rid of the ability to use the native Sony battery in the back. The new V-mount allows for an external battery to be angled out of the way while also leaving room for the Sony battery. Clever. 

For the Panasonic GH6 cage, they've added a cool new top handle that can directly support an NVME drive. There’s a USB-C cord on the front end so you can plug it directly into your camera and have it automatically record to the very nicely placed drive. 

NANLITE 300B/500B II

Josh almost bought one of these for himself! Highlight feature here, a green magenta shift option within the light to perfectly dial in your lighting scene when working with multiple light sources. Seeing them up close these lights are extremely small, extremely compact, and VERY bright. 

COMICA

Comica is launching a shotgun-style mic that fits on top of your camera with a super cool wireless transmitter directly embedded in the mic. It then comes with a wireless receiver that can be plugged directly into your camera. Because the transmitter is part of the actual microphone, this allows for extremely portable audio capabilities. All you’ll have to do is plug the wireless receiver into your camera and you’re done. They tell us the range of this product is around 200 meters. 

RHODE

The award for launching the most amount of gear at NAB has to go to Rhode. They’ve got some really cool products planned. 

The first product up is the wireless charging case for the Wireless Go II’s. We actually got our hands on this product and it feels great. It’s got a nice robust feel to it, a rubber coating, and a zipper.

Also coming is the slimmed-down version of the Rhodecaster 2 known as the Rhodecaster duo. Because it’s a slimmed-down version you’re going to get two inputs instead of four, you’ve got USB-C ports but they’ve also built-in a receiver for the Wireless Go IIs. This feature is super cool as all you’ll have to do is turn on your Go IIs and you’ll be automatically connected to the Rhodecaster Duo. A great use case for this would be podcasters who need an extra input OR need a mic that can move around wirelessly.

Finally, Rhode will be updating their Podmic. The last addition was affordable and fairly simple with a simple XLR out. The new mic will feature an  XLR out, a dial where you can adjust the headphone volume, and a USBC port. The cool thing here is that the USBC option will allow you to plug directly into your computer OR to a mobile device. For the content creator on the run, you’re going to be able to get high-quality audio on your phone or iPad. 

What gear did we see the most? 

Ok, so there are content creators and brands galore walking around NAB. For booth gear, the most common camera we saw was the Sony FX6. Obviously, this speaks volumes to the hype of Sony’s new camera. The other most common booth camera was the Red Komodo rigged out with grip and monitors. As for folks walking around? We have to be honest and most creators on the floor were using a Sony A7 or A7s3. So it’s safe to say, Sony dominated this year’s NAB floor.