I Can Make Cool Videos Now! Hollyland Lark 150 Dual Wireless Microphone Review
In my latest video I paired up (get it?) with Hollyland for a product review of their new Lark 150 wireless microphone kit. It's a great product, and I am now able to experiment with some new video setups previously made difficult with my wired microphone.
The transmitters and receivers work as expected and deliver clear audio without hiccup in all my testing. But beyond the usual stuff, the Lark 150 system offers some unique and helpful features. Two in particular stood out in my practical use.
The first was that I didn't have to worry about whether or not the devices were charged up. Both transmitters and the receiver fit snugly inside a magnetic battery charging case. This is great for storage, but also means you have a quick way to charge up your devices even if you tend to forget that sort of thing (I often do).
The second deals with pairing the devices. Wireless things tend to be a bit finicky with pairing. For example, my FlashQ system (which I love, despite this difficulty) has a sequence of button holds and clicks on both the transmitter and flash to get it to pair. I often mess it up and think it's paired when it is not. Thankfully the Lark setup is foolproof. Simply removing the transmitter and receiver from the charging case (or turning them on otherwise) will begin an automatic pairing process that only takes a few seconds. Once they are paired there is a clear visual indication, and it is ready to go. Nice one.
See the full review below, and let me know if you have any questions!
Agreed, the charging case is intriguing! I have bad dreams about microphones where the batteries die in the middle of recording 😅 Good to know the pairing is simple too.
I am genuinely surprised that you find the FlashQ to be an annoyance with pairing! I've never had an issue with the trigger & flash. Sometimes there are misfires (Probably from my hitting the shutter too quickly), but I've not had an issue with pairing.
There was one question, although unrelated to the Hollyland system. Did you get a new second camera for the top down shot? Always curious about what people record with.
Quote from Beau Carpenter on June 8, 2021, 12:23 pm 'Agreed, the charging case is intriguing! I have bad dreams about microphones where the batteries die in the middle of recording 😅 Good to know the pairing is simple too.
I am genuinely surprised that you find the FlashQ to be an annoyance with pairing! I've never had an issue with the trigger & flash. Sometimes there are misfires (Probably from my hitting the shutter too quickly), but I've not had an issue with pairing.
There was one question, although unrelated to the Hollyland system. Did you get a new second camera for the top down shot? Always curious about what people record with.
It’s one of those things that’s only slightly annoying. I still whole heartedly recommend the FlashQ. Just after using it for a bit I almost always forget one of the steps, most often clicking back on the transmitter after it has paired. To get the blinking blue lights to go solid. I usually take a shot, realize my error immediately, and fix it. Not a big deal, but I use that you could auto pair by having them attached and then just remove and would be good to go!
The top down shots are done using my phone camera for now. Sometime this year my goal is to get a more dedicated camera setup as I’ve talked to you about for m4/3. Something like the g7 or g85 for my main shots, and an older lesser quality body for my overhead. But for now this works! Always good to learn on less than ideal setups at first, I think.
Gotcha, makes sense! Now that I think about it, I usually do find myself test firing to make sure it's working haha.
The phone does the job! I've found myself using a phone for a number of quick videos, even second angles like you're doing. It's quite impressive what can be accomplished! I think for some situations the only thing that holds a phone back is lack of storage or removeable storage (because I have too many photos & apps on an iPhone)
