GROUP TEST
ZOOM LMF-2 £39.95/$49.99
The Zoom LMF-2 mic can be bought individually, or as part of the excellent F1-LP kit, which includes a very neat digital recorder. We took the latter route, but tested the mic on its own. The kit came with a clip and a windshield, but Zoom’s website states the LMF-2 does not (so you’ll need to factor that in to cost). What you do get is a nicely built unit that mounts securely in its clip, and can then be rotated through 360° in 45° bumps. This is great for reversing the mic or angling it to improve pickup, and tugging on the lead didn’t cause any audio or placement problems via the mechanism. The windshield was a little more awkward to fit than others, and was easier to do when the mic was removed from the clip. On the plus side, the 3.5mm jack has a screw lock, so there’s the option of securing it to a transmitter, though we needed a regular 3.5mm jack adapter to get a proper fit with our test recorder or a mic-
in on a camera. The lead length is 1.6m, so it’s really designed for use with mobile devices, and not plugging in the camera. While the LMF-2 isn’t particularly small, it’s fairly average in size. Looping the cable is easy thanks to a groove in the clip. Sound-wise, the LMF-2 put in a good performance. Signal was strong and clear, if a little bassy, and being an omnidirectional mic, it picked up just as well facing away from the mouth. Turning
the head proved no real loss of pickup. The windshield fitted perfectly with no scratching in movement, and did OK in the fan test, though wasn’t thick enough to remove the rumble. Background noise was well suppressed. PROMOVIEMAKER RATING: 7/10 A very good performance, and some neat features from this budget mic, though you’ll need to invest in accessories.
KENRO KNMC101 £24.95/$29.95
Kenro bills this as a ‘universal lavalier mic’, essentially meaning you can use it for all sorts of things fromwedding speeches into a PA to narration and speech in your movies. It comes with a few accessories, including clip, windshield, quarter-inch jack adapter and LR44 battery. This is a condenser mic and needs power for use with most devices, although it can be turned off for devices like smartphones, which need a passive mic. This is controlled by a fairly chunky power pack, but it’s well separated from the mic and has its own clip to keep things tidy. However, we did find the battery was tricky to insert, and it took several goes to master it. What’s more, the on/off switch is a little raised and easy to slip into ‘on’ when you don’t want it, draining power. At 6m, the KNMC101 has a very long lead, which is great if you want to plug directly into the camera, say for a seated
interview, but it will need tying up and securing if not. The 3.5mm jack lacks a screw fastener, but this makes connection to a camera easier. The clip is fine, though without a dedicated groove for looping, and the mounting point is very stiff, meaning you need to push hard to get the mic in. It’s held securely, though not easy to remove and reposition, say for inverting the mic. The windshield is large, but a bit loose, and comes off easily, but this did not lead to any scratching in the audio.
Sound, aided by the condenser, was very crisp and clear and showed no real drop-off when the mic was inverted or the head moved around. In the wind test, the large shield did a good job of suppressing rumble, and background noise was well handled, too. PROMOVIEMAKER RATING: 7/10 This budget mic gave a nice sound performance and was only let down by minor handling issues.
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AUTUMN 2019 PRO MOVIEMAKER
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