GoPro 7 Hero Black: Best low light night settings for video capture of number plates while cycling

[Oldie]

Never worked out how to zoom on VLC - I must be missing something obvious.

Also, I'd like to run continuous footage instead of opening a new file every 3 minutes.

 

[guerney]

It's a bit clunky zooming in VLC, this works depending on the video mode being used.

Or you can use the Windows magnifier.

I'd like to run continuous footage instead of opening a new file every 3 minutes.

You can play a playlist, drag all files to the playlist and loop - the loop playback button can be added in "Customise interface".

 

[Oldie]

Thanks! I'll give it a go.

 

[sjpt]

We always used to use VLC, but have been using Media Player Classic for some time.
Mostly playback quality was the same, but under some situation (I forget the details) MPC played back with much better quality than VLC.

MPC can be set up for very convenient frame forward/back which is helpful for us. Not sure about zooming.

We installed MPC as part of K-Lite Codecs; installed via the extraordinarily helpful Ninite.

 

[guerney]

We always used to use VLC, but have been using Media Player Classic for some time.
Mostly playback quality was the same, but under some situation (I forget the details) MPC played back with much better quality than VLC.

Video quality can be very good, depending on the video mode used and the detected capabilities of your graphics card. For low resource use, I usually go with DirectX, unless I need a separate subtitle file for foreign movies.

MPC can be set up for very convenient frame forward/back which is helpful for us.

VLC skip forward and back can be assigned variable time hops, then it's forward and back arrow keypresses. There's also the frame advance button which can be added from "customise interface".

Installed 5K player the other day.

 

[guerney]

If anyone is wondering which codec to use in order to retain as much quality as possible after uploading their cycling/other video to Youtube (Youtube's compression can completely destroy all clarity of your video): After much experimentation I've determined it's VP9. Export from whatever program you're editing with, then use Handbrake (free) to export using VP9 - it's pretty similar to Youtube's own compression codec.





If you simply wanted to snip out a section of video without losing quality, that's easily done using LosslessCut (free). Then chuck it through Handbrake (free) to compress using VP9, then upload to Youtube.

 

[guerney]

The GoPro 7 Hero Black does the job for now, but here's a little update for anyone else using one to record passing number plates at night: I'm reducing max ISO from 1600 to 800, because with all the graininess at ISO1600, it's value for recording said night number plates when they're travelling fast and further away is questionable - if you can bring yourself to enduring looking closely at the heavily brightened and stupefyingly boring video below (don't do it! ), the camera switching from less grainy ISO 800 to grainer ISO 1600 and back again is clearly visible. I'm going to experiment with pointing one of the headlights acutely down and to the right, as I originally intended, to illuminate number plates as they speed by. Trouble is, I worry drivers might be attracted to a bright light to the right of my front wheel like moths. I'll see how it goes.

 

[AndyBike]

I got a hero 7(silver?) out of Evans cycles. But its lived in its box and i havent even set it up or done the initial update/download.
It was on special and got it for i think 90 quid new.

Evans, being staffed by imbeciles, couldn't get the display case open, and at one point I had the entire staff of 5 round it trying to work out how it opened.
My quip of 'How many Evans staff does it take to open a display case' didnt go down so well.
They eventually broke open the back of the case and i got my new toy.

 

[guerney]

Can you get it out of the box? Batteries could expire if you don't charge them. £90 is a good price, Cex would give you a £83 voucher for your "Mint" Grade A Hero 7 Silver to exchange for a GoPro Hero 7 Black, if you wanted, when they have them in stock at £125 B grade, £135 A grade.

https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail/?id=0818279022995a&categoryName=camcorders&superCatName=electronics&title=&queryID=9be243fcce9b3623894ea27d746c5c54&position=9

Your GoPro Hero 7 Silver has a different sensor, firmware and features to the Hero 7 Black:

...so I have no idea how well it will perform at night... and looking at the manual:

https://gopro.com/content/dam/help/hero7-silver/manuals/HERO7Silver_UM_ENG_REVA.pdf


...it appears there are no manual settings for frame rate, shutter speed, or ISO. Therefore you're stuck with whatever GoPro has decided is best for every situation.

 

[AndyBike]

Tell a lie, its the white one i have. Thrown off completely by the fact its grey in colour.

TBH even upgrading to black would be lost on me, hence the one I have is sitting new and unused for the last 6 months.
I'll probably gift it to one of the nephews or such.

 

[guerney]

Tell a lie, its the white one i have. Thrown off completely by the fact its grey in colour.

TBH even upgrading to black would be lost on me, hence the one I have is sitting new and unused for the last 6 months.
I'll probably gift it to one of the nephews or such.

You must have bought it for a reason. I reckon an action camera cyclist "flight" recorder is well worth using, especially when you've flown over the handlebars and some driver disputes what occurred after he/she/they/them/it bumps you off because he/she/they/them/it failed to see you. Trade it in for a GoPro Hero 7 Black - there are three in stock at the moment. Two year guarantee.

https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=0818279023077b&categoryName=camcorders&superCatName=electronics&title=&queryID=75df79ac9259f3a5536aa3902ded2246&position=1


You could get £83 trade-in for your A grade Hero 7 White. 125 - 83 = 42 the answer to life, the universe and everything.

https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=0818279022995a&categoryName=camcorders&superCatName=electronics&title=&queryID=862b1ad6273eb3f9d91e4f238e92b683&position=6


I bought three new genuine batteries from this dude - they're always shagged out on secondhand GoPros.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313578217774

I'll probably gift it to one of the nephews or such.

Give him a lump of coal and tell him to be grateful.

 

[AndyBike]

You must have bought it for a reason.

I dont think there was any specific reason other than i visited the shop by chance, spotted it on special offer. and thought 'hey thats one of them gopro things'.

I think the thought process at the time was to use it on bike adventures that never actually came about. But most of the time i seem to have a habit of buying things i dont really need- See my Festool collection... ahem

Give him a lump of coal and tell him to be grateful.

That will never work. One is a solicitor, the other's about to enter the office of national statistics as an economist. A lump of coal just isnt going to cut it.

 

[guerney]

I think the thought process at the time was to use it on bike adventures that never actually came about.

Isn't every bike ride a death-defying adventure these days? Traffic is way more ferocious than it was in the 80's. Yank tanks and ram raiders all over the shop.

That will never work. One is a solicitor, the other's about to enter the office of national statistics as an economist. A lump of coal just isnt going to cut it.

They'll Google it and regift the thing, or it'll end up in a charity shop - you may as well take the £7 hit in reduction of value, and exchange it for a Hero 7 Black. I don't like 8... and 10, 11 and 12 are too expensive, also larger and heavier. The Osmo Action 3 looks promising with it's large sensor, but I don't like the mount and @FastFreddy2 hasn't yet reported back with night cycling footage tests using his - that could be because he doesn't cycle at night. I hate the online activation requirement before an Osmo will function as anything other than a paperweight... GoPros work without that. There isn't a single test of the Osmo action 3 on Youtube which was recorded using high shutter speed on a bicycle at night - every test I've seen shows blurry number plates, on some auto mode.

 

[guerney]

A brand new battery for my GPH7B arrived this morning, one of the old ones kept crapping out while recording, despite claiming to be fully charged. Every time it crapped out, it'd switch back on again to attempt repair of the extremely short video file it had recorded damaged, then switch off, on, off etc. Another battery bulges slightly but still works - when it's too wide to fit, I'll throw it away/recycle.

The brand new GoPro Hero 7 Black battery sold ensconced by packaging lasts longer, than the three I bought loose without packaging - all were bought from the same ebay seller.

About 1 hour and 20 minutes 1080p/24fps recording time from the ones sold loose, a little over 1 hour 56 minutes from the packaged. Perhaps the batteries sold loose are from new cameras which have been returned to various shops after a few uses, sold as joblots to other sellers? The batteries bought loose all charged to 100% - maybe that's their test before reselling? Lesson learned: spend £3 more for new packaged and that extra 36 minutes.

I expect lifespan of this new battery sold packaged will be longer too. Cheaper than GoPro's official shop, with free Royal Mail 48 hour delivery:

Genuine GoPro Rechargeable Battery Hero 7 Hero 6 Hero 5 Black Brand New sealed | eBay

100% Official GoPro Battery.

www.ebay.co.uk

Cheaper unpackaged:

Pardon our interruption...

For cycling "Flight recorder" use, I need clear and sharp recording of number plates. Reduced colour depth resulting from high shutter speed and high ISO, isn't important.

The camera will automatically select ISO as day turns to night. ISO range is set manually. Shutter speed is set manully, doesn't change... unless you don't switch out a fully depleted battery fast enough...in which case that setting reverts to "Auto". I guess I could keep memory active by swapping battery while momentarily attaching external power via a power bank, but I can't be bothered, because it's easy to quickly switch the shutter speed back to 1/384s by swiping through the screen menus. My GoPro Hero 7 Black's settings for clear number plate recording night and day are:





Generally speaking, for the vast majority of cameras the basic principles are the same. Film/video is just a series of photographs.

 

[guerney]

That's GoPro 10 number 2!

I still have not tried your night time settings, must do before October.

Try the same min and max ISO settings above, but at 1/480s shutter speed - your GPH10B's newer sensor will perform better than mine. On my GPH7B, that shutter speed is available at 1080p/30fps. Early this morning, there wasn't bright sunlight like in all the other videos recently posted by others, but I tried 1/480s shutter speed, while trying my best to record a close pass. Unfortunately, my Oxford lollipop put them all off. This was the closest any vehicle got. I did consider folding the Oxford in, to film a closer pass... but then I decided that's the business of all you dudes and dudettes who choose not to bolt an Oxford lollipop to your handlebar, not mine.

Because Vimeo limits the number of videos in free accounts, I've bunged the not-close pass onto the end of this video, at 2m 55s. It's cued up, hit play. Select 1080P if you like. If you want to play it again from the same cued point, refresh this web page, and hit play again. That last bit looks slightly jerky because it's 30fps interpolated to 24fps, to match the rest of the video.

Screenshot of not-close pass:







Brightened:




Number plate of blameless driver's vehicle below, shown by way of example. Brightened and cropped, as any thicko cop is capable of doing, if compelled by serious circumstances:

 

[guerney]

Go Pro Hero 7 Black ie 1/480s: I also wanted to see if I could capture number plates of vehicles further away in dim daylight, travelling in the opposite direction. This van wasn't fast:





Brightened:




This car was faster:





Brightened:





Again, a normal road speed:





This dude was hurrying on his way to a riot or something. Too fast too furiously blurry - they all bomb down this road at stupid speeds.





This taxi driver's number plate is illegally obscured - no automatic robo-camera fines for this funster:

 

[guerney]

Here's another number plate going in the opposite direction, after the sky brightend up a bit:







Here's the number plate of a car stopped dead by the sight of my lights.





This pass wasn't close either, thanks to my Oxford lollipop what's mounted to the right hand side handlebar end of my bicycle - I haven't experienced a close pass since installed the thing.

 

[MikelBikel]

Here's another number plate going in the opposite direction, after the sky brightend up a bit:


View attachment 59194

View attachment 59195


Here's the number plate of a car stopped dead by the sight of my lights.


View attachment 59196


This pass wasn't close either, thanks to my Oxford lollipop what's mounted to the right hand side handlebar end of my bicycle - I haven't experienced a close pass since installed the thing.


View attachment 59197

"Oxford Lollipop" sounds like an Olympic event move, similar to the "Fosbury Flop"!
Have you seen Bike magazines character "Ogri"? In the comic he put Truck lights on his motorbike coz he wasn't getting noticed by cars.

 

[guerney]

Drivers occupy caveman mindspace, and as such react to and avoid mammoths (other vehicles), fire (bright lights) and clubs (Oxford lollipops on the ends of handlebars). Ug.

 

[guerney]

I'm pleased to report a shutter speed of 1/960s removes nearly all blur from even very fast moving number plates, in daylight. I have yet to test night.

Very early morning , underexposed plate of a very fast moving car.





Brightened, because it was underexposed:





A few minutes later... not close but clear plate:





Brightened:





As the morning brightened, all passing plates continued to be blur free, and clearer, especially nearer mid-frame than the edge.








Even plates travelling fast in the opposite direction, sortof:










I'll do some testing at night next, at 1/960s shutter speed. I really don't want to change settings as day turns to night, hence my reluctance using such high shutter speed. Will see how it goes...

Here are the settings used: