Neewer Does It Again: CM28 Lav Mic… And Half Off For A Limited Time.

So… The NEEWER CM28 Wireless Lavalier Microphone System. Let me get the most important piece out of the way first. The sale link good for 50% off (so, $69) until 07/13/2024 is here.

The second most important piece, ok arguably the most important, this kit is good. May be excellent. In the opinion of this video novice anyway.

Background.

I do not often shoot video, but I get called on to to do so from time to time. When I do, I typically use a simple Rode hot shoe mounted shotgun mic. It does the job as long as the environment is quiet. But I have been interested in getting a Lav Mic set up for a while. The only issue is that my use case does not justify the usual price of entry. Rode offered a proper Lav Mic kit, but approaching $400 I did not consider it. Worth it. Just more than I was willing to spend. I really like Godox and they came through with a great deal on two lav mic kits, for $250 and $170. Neewer followed suit with their own $130 kit, often marked down even further.

I pay attention when Neewer enters the chat. I have had great experiences with Neewer products. Had good luck with their light modifiers. Their AF Macro tubes are a screaming bargain. And most recently I bought a roller bag from them that has already been put to good use and has not missed a step. All had two things in common:

Top notch build quality and features.
A price that has me asking, how is this possible?

So, the original price was good. But then they went all Neewer on me and the $69 promotion in the link above popped up on the Book of Face. No way. I checked and it was their FB page. I checked the link and it was legitimate. I happen to be married to a State Assistant Attorney General that specializes in teaching about avoiding fraud so I have gotten many pointers on what to look out for. I put it in the cart and on checkout the discount code was applied as advertised. What?! So yes, I bought them. And they were delivered the next morning… What?!?!

I did check some reviews… after I ordered them admittedly. But based on prior experience I had few concerns. Plus. $69? They would have to be pretty awful for me to return them. But my confidence was rewarded. All reviews were favorable, but this one was especially helpful.

After some initial testing his subtitle sums up my take,

“How is it this good?”

To backtrack I am a video newbie. Said another way I do not, at all, profess to be well versed in lav mics. But the flip side of that is that I have absolutely no experience with lav mics and I had these up and running immediately. The very definition of plug and play. Slide receiver clip onto hot shoe, connect mic chord, clip transmitter onto shirt, and hit record on the camera. That was it. Was set to go out of the box. Walked to a far corner of the second floor of our house and it worked perfectly. Recorded as if I was standing right next to the camera.

I understand this may not be that amazing to someone that usually uses lav mics but after making do with a budget shotgun mic for years this is near dark magic. And it cost no more than the budget shotgun mic.

There are options… Many, many options. But it was perfect straight out of the box. Next I will share a rant I sent to a friend:

A lot of stuff was expected. The things I did not expect.

4Gb of internal recording as standalone or as back up to wireless capture activated with one button press.
200M range.

Can record straight to phone, computer, or any device straight from the mic.
Has noise cancelling, that noticeably worked on the first test, that is activated with one button press.
Each device has a USB-C port.
Not only does the case have a battery to charge the devices, each of the devices can be charged by their USB-C ports.
The transmitter has a headphone jack in addition to the output jack to camera so you can monitor audio even if you do not have it connected to anything.
- So it is a standalone recording system where you download the audio afterwards.
- You can monitor it so you don’t find out later, it is all bad.
Each mic has a clip as expected, but they also have their own mic jack so you can use a small wired mic if you do want to clip the lav to your shirt.
It also has a magnetic disc on the back so you can attach it through a shirt.
LCD screen on the receiver.

Comes with:
- Little dead cat wind shields for the mics.
- Carry bag.
- Power chord.
- Data chord.
- Mic jack chord.
- USB-C phone adapter.
- Apple phone adapter.

8-9 hour battery life for receiver and transmitters.
And it has the nerve to look good and be well built.

Other stuff I have forgotten.

Then I realized something. In a recent post I wrote that I was baffled by the omission of a hot shoe, so no hot shoe connected/powered mic, and the lack of a headphone jack on the Panasonic Lumix S9. Well this this system, and any of its competitors admittedly, would solve both. Maybe that was Lumix was counting on? Anyhoo. Slide the receiver onto the cold shoe and monitor the audio through the receiver’s headphone jack.

For $69.

I mean… Look how happy this guy looks.