Hollyland Mars M1 Monitor Review (after 2 months)

[@DanielSnare]

Another fantastic review Isaac! I would have never considered the power draw however I comfortably make it through a day shooting and swapping from my Shinobi could change this. Would be interesting to know what a Shinobi + hdmi transmitter would use more of less.

[@Isaac_Insoll]

Shinobi and Transmitter is like 10% more than the all-in-one M1 so the M1 is way smaller and more convenient than having two devices but it’s not drastically more energy efficient than running both

[@kurtd6288]

Every one of the 17 minutes and 7 seconds of this review contains interesting and valuable information. It would have taken others an hour to present. Thanks Isaac, for the quality... and respect of our time!

[@Isaac_Insoll]

Thanks for the very kind words, Kurt 🔥

[@t4t213]

The only thing it doesn’t contain is the fact that this is bliming expensive at nearly $900!!!

[@Isaac_Insoll]

I’m not saying that it’s not a lot of money but as far as I’m aware it’s literally the cheapest monitor on the market with a built in transmitter and receiver?

[@YOUAREMYKIN]

Your review is so thorough and helpful! 👌

[@Isaac_Insoll]

Thanks for watching and commenting, really appreciate it 🔥

[@kaceyolivercox]

Amazingly thorough review. The latency is a killer but I'll likely still get myself the M1. Many thanks!

[@Isaac_Insoll]

It’s still “jarring” for the first minute I use it every time, then my eyes sort of adjust and it’s “fine”

[@remka2000]

Thanks for the review! This brand came out of nowhere and has surprisingly good products, especially for the price. I do like their simple lav combo thingie (Lark M1 I think) a lot, which in my case has been working well for minimal setup interviews. Way simpler to charge and to carry than the old trusted Sony UWPs, less cables, batteries, and no issues after a couple of months. Not sure if I would bring these to a big client shoot yet though. I was going to write that latency might be an issue when used for focus pulling, but you addressed it 😊 Power shouldn’t be too much of a problem when using external batteries (which you probably are using on many jobs anyway…). Compared to the price of a Teradek + a SmallHD or Atomos it’s quite a steal, but if it’s only to be used as an on-camera device or as a client wireless display it limits use cases quite a bit. I didn’t see false colors listed on their site (which I use a lot, and love on Blackmagic cameras but don’t have on my only Sony one, the fx30). I assume that “exposure assist” are zebras?

[@Isaac_Insoll]

I've never used the UWPs (i'd like to!) but I love the Wireless GO 2's specifically for the internal recording after doing a video with 6 people lav'd up in a room of 20 people and we encounted all kinds of wireless interference. After that day I'll only ever use transmitters with internal recording. I think this is freaking amazing value compared to SmallHD + teradek and it's amazing that it's in such a small package. I've never used a teradek so I can't actually compare them though. I've just checked and there is false color. From what I see I can't change it (unlike SmallHD that allows unlimited customisation). The gradient is "shades of blue" from 0-25% IRE, "shades of yellow to red" above 75%, and then a specific green area at 43-47% and pink at 54-58% with greys otherwise. If that doesn't make sense let me know and i'll give you a screenshot :) Thanks for watching and commenting, really apreciated it!

[@DonovanMediaCenter]

Shopping for another small monitor…have a SmallHD 7 touch, and an old Focus 5. Our Atomos monitors have never felt tack sharp for critical focus on gigs. But the budget won’t allow for another SmallHD monitor. Considering the Atomos Shinobi 5” (for FX30). This initially seemed appealing,,,especially with the transmission ability. The latency is small issue, but the power consumption is just about a deal breaker for me. I really appreciate your thorough review!

[@Isaac_Insoll]

Dude, until last year when I got the 702 touch I was rocking the Touch 5 and Touch 7! I love the 7" but the screen on the 5" never looked 'right' to me, like too much backlight washing it out or something. Honestly if I was looking for a cheap 5" I'd either go the Shinobi or check out the SmallHD Action 5. I fear the action 5 is too "crippled" feature wise but if it has the features you need it might be okay. Thanks for the comment too, I put a lot of work in so appreciate anytime somebody leaves a message :)

[@Financegirl12345]

Awesome video. B roll is perfection.

[@Isaac_Insoll]

Thanks heaps, I really appreciate it 🔥

[@Joley_]

Loved the detailed review! The M1 is in my cart right now, thanks to this review! I wanted to ask if you have received and transmitted from one M1 monitor to another M1 monitor? And what was the experience with it? Also, how's the 4k60p? As I wanted to replace my Atomos Ninja rig - I'd rather declutter/make my rig lighter and let the client see what I am shooting... I also don't use the external recording often.

[@Isaac_Insoll]

I’ve only got the one M1 monitor so I can’t answer that. It worked perfectly as sender and receiver with my 400S pro so I’d say it will be fine. My transmitters are only 1080 so I haven’t seen what a 4K transmission looks like. 1080 is perfect for client monitoring IMHO. Even at 1080 you can tell it’s not a “perfect” single like HDMI as you can see small amounts of h264 compression occasionally if you know what to look for. I think you will be super happy if you want a monitor with great image quality and wireless transmission built in 🔥

[@Joley_]

@@Isaac_Insoll thanks for the reply! I record in 4K60p and just wondering if the monitor would still display something, even if it downsamples to 1080, I don’t mind that :)

[@Isaac_Insoll]

I have my FX3 set to output 1080 rather than 4K (even though I always record in 4K internally). Both the M1 and the small HDs work fine at all frame rates in my experience. As I don’t do external recording or have a monitor with 4 k display this works well for me

[@ChrisLaxamana]

Did you have any problems syncing the M1 to the 400s Pro Receiver? I could never get them to talk to each other.

[@Isaac_Insoll]

It has always worked perfectly for me but honestly most of the time I’m using the m1 as the receiver

[@kobolsky]

Hello Isaac, excellent videos, you explain many things, I have three questions, I have the same monitor and I have three doubts. 1. What cable do you use to connect the monitor to the smallrig NP-F power board. 2. The Focus Peaking help on my monitor is terrible, it is almost not visible, not even at 100%, (and I updated it to the latest firmware) when I connect it to the App from the iPhone it is much better, could it be a defect of mine or is yours the same? 3. I see that some monitors show a red rectangle indicating that it is being recorded, this one doesn't, right? Thank you very much if you can help me with these questions.

[@askfullandstarving7006]

If i have mars1 as trasmitter, then my ipad as a receiver can preview live through apps without mars 4k?

[@napatsaeng]

Thank you for your review , useful and completely

[@Isaac_Insoll]

Thanks man. Do you have any feedback? I’m still new at this 😀

[@Julleck]

Hey! Have you noticed a latency coming through the SDI cable? I definately have an input lag through the wired connection between RED komodo X and the monitor (tested multiple cams and cables)

[@Isaac_Insoll]

There is absolutely latency regardless of HDMI / SDI in my experience on both Fuji and Sony cameras (all I have to test with). It feels like about 2 frames at 25p. It's noticable the first minute I'm using the monitor then I get used to it and it doesn't bother me. I've never had that issue with my SmallHD or Atomos monitors so it's definitely a hollyland "monitors with wireless transmission" issue, even when you aren't transmitting.

[@sytesmedia504]

how is the latency, can I pull focus using 2 m1's enhanced monitors

[@VIPAH]

The thing is you are screwed if you already own the Mars 400 pro TX/RX trans/receiver because now I got a spare TX transceiver lying around prob hard to sell on it's own without selling the RX. My only solution now is to bite the bullet with this monitor and use it as a reference monitor on my gimbal and have a wireless feed going to the RX receiver for clients.

[@Isaac_Insoll]

I own the 400S pro kit. I think you are right that they won’t be worth much on second hand market but I like having the option to pop a transmitter on my FX6 that already has a 7” monitor on it or if I want to use it on a C cam like table top down camera that doesn’t need a full monitor directly attached to it

[@VIPAH]

@@Isaac_Insoll The only competitor that offers high end wireless video are Teredek and SmallHD who have a few combined Ultra 5 monitors but start at $2800 USD. Atomos haven't really bothered joining the game, but for $989.00 i can't complain with the Mars1.

[@nelsonpun]

I have the m1 enhanced. And ill use an ipad to pull focus when i film myself testing lighting. Im really surprised how bad the quality is streaming to an ipad. The image is very blurry and couldnt really pull focus with it. The sharpening focus option helped but just rly surprised how bad it is at such close range. If anyones planning on relying the ipad transmission to pull focus i would go another direction. Also rly hate that theres no pinch to zoom or quicker way to zoom

[@Isaac_Insoll]

I’ve recently started using the M1 enhanced to transmit to a 15” monitor and would agree totally. On a smaller monitor like a 7” receiver the image compression is acceptable but at 15” sizes it’s great for client review of framing etc but nowhere near as sharp as running even a 1080p feed directly into the monitor.

[@goatsfilms6812]

Will there still be a delay if the monitor is plugged into the camera?

[@Isaac_Insoll]

There are two delays going on: 1. a tiny (1 or 2 frame) delay that this monitor just has all the time, and it's noticable when compared to another monitor like a small HD 2. wireless transmission delay. Plugging in directly to the camera will mean you only have the first delay. It's not a deal breaker at all and totally fine, but it is noticable when comparing it to other monitors.

[@algersonvincent]

i'm noticing that the focus peaking doesnt really work with my r5. is it visible on yours?

[@Isaac_Insoll]

I’ll give it a test tonight or tomorrow and let you know. I personally don’t use focus peaking much (either autofocus or just eyeball the image when MF) as the peaking distracts me from what I’m shooting. I’ll do a 2 min play with it and then compare it to my smallHD but my response will be short like “about the same as smallHD” or “yea it sucks” because I’m not a peaking master 😀

[@andrew_nayes]

@@Isaac_Insoll What did you find out? Focus peaking no good?

[@andrew_nayes]

Is the focus peaking any good?

[@ken128chung]

May I know what is the bit rate it transmits from TX to RX?

[@Isaac_Insoll]

12mb H264 which is higher than mars 300 series of 8

[@ken128chung]

@@Isaac_Insoll thank you so much for your prompt reply.

[@GarethAlmeida]

any hand held cage that works with this?

[@Isaac_Insoll]

Are you talking about a camera cage? If so I’ve been loving this setup: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6Xbo42dnK6NhbM

[@GarethAlmeida]

@@Isaac_Insoll thanks, but I was referring to a cage for the monitor. For example to be used as a directors hand held monitor. I found out it has a rosewood handle and that’s about it.