Pity Gopro's are so expensive (hero10 €660) .
GoPro's pricing has gone mad. I thought it was only likely that the GoPro 7 Hero Black would do the job of recording clear number plates at night, but based on the Youtube samples I'd seen, I wasn't certain, therefore I didn't want to spend too much, and certainly didn't want to buy one from anywhere that would make it difficult to return or exchange for some other camera. Other GoPro night videographers had other priorities, and don't seem to have exlored the settings thoroughly... which to me is odd, because the settings I used are logical bets, for anyone used to shooting in low light using a DSLR: When you can't change the lens for something faster (with a lower "F" number, larger aperture, more radioactive lens [yes, really] etc.), or improve lighting conditions (@3600 lumens, my headlights are bright), you must change ISO and/or shutter speed - in this case higher shutter speed and ISO, because the scene isn't static. The GoPro 7 Hero Black isn't perfect at this, but it manages far more often than not. Curiously, I've noticed some number plates don't reflect much light at all, but those are quite rare. The good news is that sensors are only going to improve in low light sensitivity. After trading in an old phone, my GoPro 7 Hero Black cost £59.99 secondhand at a Cex shop (£165 without trade-in, prices have dropped by £40 since I bought mine "B" grade @£195 a couple of weeks ago, which is lovely):
B grade:
The products we buy and sell are graded according to their cosmetic condition, functionality and the accessories they come with. All phones, tablets and hardware (excluding consoles) are graded as one of the following: A - Mint - These pr...
uk.support.webuy.com
The other option was the DJI Osmo Action 3, but I hated that it won't do a damned thing until the camera is activated online using their app... which among other things, would allow DJI to intentionally brick it in future like Sonos:
Infuriates customers by making useable systems into electronic waste
www.theregister.com
Also I had read on forums about the DJI Osmo Action 3's waterproofing and focus issues, the former of which at least, user
@The Silverfox hasn't experienced.
The other clever options like Cycliq6 & 12 (Cam and Light combo's £169 + £229) are said to be unreliable?
A used "B" grade GoPro 7 Hero Black from Cex at £165, is cheaper than both. The GoPros are also glitchy, but the Hero 7 Black is old and the firmware so mature, I assume it's less glitchy than the newer models are presently. GoPros: Although mostly due to firmware, much glitchiness can be attributed to use of substandard batteries which can't supply enough power - either because they're third party, or old originals - and use of SD cards too slow at writing and/or reading. It's surprising that my GoPro reports the SD card I use was manufactured in 2004 - I only bought it new last year. I bought my "New" "Opened, never used" original GoPro batteries here, they perform well:
And like the cheaper Akaso's, e.g. Brave7 (a waterproof one £136) they can't pick up things at night.
You can buy a used "B" grade GoPro 7 Hero Black from Cex for £165. I believe even my cheapo £40 Crosstour Action 4k would have been capable, if only they had included manual shutter control - sadly they copied GoPro's earlier cameras in terms of user option settings. It does well in daylight, useless at night.
The Cycliq 6's video quality looks awful, but it appears to be capable of recording slow moving and close number plates in daylight:
Video quoted from here:
As an all-in-one camera-light package it's good, with a few notable issues to be aware of
road.cc
The Cyliq 12 CE appears to do better, in more favourable lighting conditions, but not as well as a current-ish GoPro would IMHO - looks to me likely there's too much motion blur to record number plates clearly, unless they're slow moving and fairly close. Unless it has manual shutter and ISO control, I wouldn't buy one: I'd try leaving the ISO on auto, turn any image stabilisation off, set shutter to something fast, and experiment until I captured legible number plates - the resulting video won't look pleasing from an artistic standpoint, but the number plates would be clearer or clear.
they can't pick up things at night. Tho that would be a big ask!
For me, recording clear number plates day or night, is the only reason to get an action camera. I held out little hope such tiny lenses and sensors would be capable currently, of recording number plates at night.
It would be wonderful if action cameras were as hackable as some Canon DSLRs:
My plan is to switch to the manual mode settings shown in post #1, as soon as it get sufficiently dark cycling. The GoPro 7 Hero Black remembers just one set of manual settings. Once set, fortunately it's as simple as switching Protune (GoPro's term for manual settings) on, and Hypersmooth (GoPro's word for image stabilisation) off. I haven't been out cycling during the day for awhile, but if it doesn't capture clear numberplates on auto, it'll have to be a manually set for daylight too. As I've said above: I'd try leaving the ISO on auto (on the GoPro, you can set min and max ISO), turn any image stabilisation off, set shutter to something fast, and experiment until I captured legible number plates. The camera will then simply ISO automatically, none of which (ISO 100 to 1600) will make plates appear blurry or too grainy/noisy, if the shutter speed is set high enough by the user - too high and images will be too dark, too low and highlights will be overblown. Underexposed (too dark) is preferable, because you can't recover details from overblown images. But how well cameras automatically select ISO to expose for lighting conditions varies widely, some are far better than others.
uk.trustpilot.com
www.dpreview.com
hehe 
