RODE Phone Cage, a new workflow.

Finding the perfect run and gun workflow is a tricky business, if you are self-employed, gathering the gear can be troublesome, expensive and reviews on gear can be somewhat misleading. You’ll get told about the class leading features, the hidden tips and tricks but you are not likely to be told about how it feels after 8 hours lugging it around on your 300gbp entry level gimbal, or how you might need an cable to transfer files but the one supplied is only half a foot. I’ve used every imaginable form of camera from triple ccd shoulder mounted Canon cameras from the 1990s to 4k web cams held on a stick plugged into a laptop running OBS. There has never been a better time to completely rethink your run and gun set up and RODE are at the forefront.

In the past I have used variations of the Panasonic GH series of cameras strapped to a Feyutech two handled gimbal and more recently my Canon 5dMKIV plonked atop a Weebil S and while both are fairly portable, shooting a whole day of run and gun can get tiresome. Lets not forget when you put the camera down you still have to pick the laptop up and edit for x number of hours. A revelation happened at the last event (RADAR Festival) Scan attended. RODE Supplied me with a RODE Phone Cage.

If you think about cinema camera systems like RED and ARRI, they are essentially boxes surrounding a large full frame sensor that you then add modules onto, such as a lens, battery pack, storage and a monitor. This is achieved through a modular cage system using screws the same size as those from your tripod head. RODE has had the genius idea of doing the same thing but for a phone. A sturdy high-grade aluminium frame, with five cold shoe mounts and 33 mounting threads make attaching tripods and accessories simple.

The cage comes with a MagSafe mounting system for MagSafe compatible phones or phone cases. In use the MagSafe mount was secure, I’m not the most coordinated person around and sometimes found myself knocking the phone of when trying to move the accessories around. However, when shooting either handheld or on the tripod the connection stayed firm. In fact, when on the tripod the weightlessness of the setup meant that panning on a photographic tripod was smooth and I was able to zoom in without any noticeable shake, something my counterpart sporting a Panasonic SXII with full monitor and audio set up couldn’t do.

The portability of the set-up also meant you could actually run and gun and not jog and slog. Able to be across locations quickly really helped capture content and have it up on socials within the hour was a breath of fresh air. This also meant the time from creative inception to an item being on social media was drastically reduced.

I had bought two Godox micro-LEDs which attached perfectly to the cold shoe mounts and RODE provided Wireless Pros and reporter mics which worked seamlessly with my Pixel 7 Pro. I was able to add the Wireless Pro receiver to the Phone Cages top mount.

Overall, I was so impressed with the phone cage I have subsequently bought one for future use. It’s a simple idea that no one else has either had or been able to execute and RODE have again proved they are pioneers of the new age of filmmaking and audio capture.

For more information about the RODE phone cage please following the link https://bit.ly/3YRdUtw