lovelifey: [Photography] Joby Mobile Vlogging Kit Review: A Great Deal for Vloggers

The post Joby Mobile Vlogging Kit Review: A Great Deal for Vloggers appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Suzi Pratt.

As smartphones advance, mobile vlogging and filmmaking continue to rise in popularity. Thankfully, camera accessory brands have come up with whole systems to support phone vloggers. The Joby Mobile Vlogging Kit is the latest system to hit that market, and it is chock-full of accessories that you can use with your phone (or with other camera setups).

But what’s in the Joby Mobile Vlogging Kit? And how does it perform?

In this Joby Mobile Vlogging Kit review, you’ll discover the pros (and cons) of this product.

And you’ll leave knowing whether the Vlogging Kit is right for your needs.

What’s in the Joby Mobile Vlogging Kit?

Here’s what’s included in the Vlogging Kit package:

Tripod

First off, Joby is the brand behind GorillaPods, the bendy-arm tripods that have been popular with vloggers and photographers for many years.

The base of this kit is the GorillaPod Mobile Rig: a small version of the GorillaPod that perfectly complements the size of modern smartphones. I used my copy with a Samsung Galaxy S10 and it fit perfectly.

The GorillaPod has a standard 1/4″ tripod screw, so you could also use it with another camera if you chose to.

Smartphone clamp

The Joby Mobile Vlogging Kit also comes with a smartphone clamp that has two extra bendy arms attached. The clamp is very sturdy and adjusts to fit just about any smartphone out there. The bendy arms are great for attaching accessories such as a light and/or an external microphone, but the arms can be removed.

One of the best features of the smartphone clamp is its ability to easily flip between portrait and landscape orientations. All you have to do is loosen the lock and the clamp swivels. This is especially helpful for those wanting to shoot vertical content for Instagram Stories or TikTok.

Another great addition to the smartphone clamp is a cold shoe mount on top for mounting an accessory. Truth be told, I prefer using the Joby Mobile Vlogging Kit without the extra bendy arms; I simply attach my main accessory (usually the microphone) via the smartphone clamp cold shoe.

LED light and microphone

With this vlogging kit, Joby is branching out of the tripod market and debuting two other camera accessories: the Beamo Mini LED light and the Wavo Mobile microphone.

Both products are incredibly solid and perform very well. The Beamo light is reminiscent of other rugged light competitors such as the LitraTorch 2.0. It’s waterproof and rugged, has two cold shoe mounts to attach accessories, charges via USB-C, has multiple brightness settings, packs a magnetic attachment, and comes with a silicone diffuser to produce a flattering beam of light.

The Wavo microphone looks like a clone of the Rode VideoMicro. But the nice part about the Wavo mic is that Joby includes two different cables: a TRRS cable so that the mic can be used with a smartphone, and a TRS cable for use with a regular camera.

Note that you have to use the correct microphone cable. Otherwise, sound will not be captured properly.

Using the Joby Mobile Vlogging Kit in practice

This vlogging kit comes with a lot of camera accessories.

But how do they perform?

The GorillaPod is as steady as ever, although parts of the legs can sometimes snap off if they are bent in one direction too forcefully. It’s easy to snap the legs back into place if that happens, but it’s just something to be aware of.

If you like to use multiple compact cameras, it’s very easy to take off the included smartphone clamp and stick another camera on the GorillaPod. I did this a lot with my GoPro when I wanted to change my filming style.

Sound-wise, it’s tough to trust a microphone not made by a reputable sound company. Cheap mics often show their true colors via bad sound quality. However, the Wavo mic has very clear sound, and the windscreen does an excellent job of blocking out wind. The Rode VideoMicro has a slight edge in sound quality, but for the price and the fact that the Wavo mic is included as part of a kit, it’s a great deal. Plus, it can be used with a regular camera, which is even better.

After the sun went down, the Beamo light came out to play. After using similar light products made by Litra and Lume Cube, I have to declare the Beamo my favorite compact rugged light. It has a solid feel that is still lightweight, and the light quality is incredibly strong.

In fact, you must use the silicon diffuser if you plan to vlog with the Beamo light. Otherwise, the light is so powerful that it will wash out the video (and strain your eyes).

Joby Mobile Vlogging Kit review: Conclusion

Now that you’ve finished our Joby Mobile Vlogging Kit review, you know all about the power of this handy little kit.

Overall, the Vlogging Kit is a great deal that gives you three high-quality products in a single package. You can use them together with a smartphone, or you can trade the phone for another compact point and shoot or action camera. You can even mix and match each accessory with different camera setups.

So whether you intend to vlog or simply want a good deal on three awesome camera accessories, you can’t go wrong with this kit.

To see the Joby Mobile Vlogging Kit in action, check out my video review: