GoPro in the dark

[confusedcyclist]

Thinking of getting a GoPro, but how do they perform at night as it will be used mainly for commuting during the dark hours? I was particularly interested in the new £99 budget model.

Any thoughts? I received some halfords vouchers for my birthday and have British Cycling discount too so could wrangle this at minimal personal expense

 

[Mile195]

Basically, they're complete crap in the dark. Wide angle lens with a small aperture. I don't own that particular one (I have a contour roam), but I have seen footage out of a friends, and it's the same model. Or maybe he just got a bad one... who knows.

 

[confusedcyclist]

Disappointing, perhaps I will wait until the spring.

 

[Mile195]

Have a look on youtube - there's loads of reviews - maybe you might find it'll be ok for what you want.

I'm no expert (you want to drop cyclegaz a line for that), but if you want truly good night-time footage, then you will probably need to pay for it. Some of the cheapest cameras can shoot ok in ample daylight, but decent night footage either requires wide apertures (which isn't an option for a camera that doesn't require focusing, and is intended to be small enough for bike mounting), or fast, efficient processing which can accurately take out "noise" caused by ramping up the gain on low-light images, and this comes at a cost.

 

[confusedcyclist]

Hadn't thought of that, thanks!

 

[MikeW-71]

They are better than they used to be in low-light, but they aren't night vision.

 

[drummerbod]

I have the Hero Silver+ and it's no good in low light ie just before sun comes up over horizon. Things get blocky.

 

[ufkacbln]

Backed up with a decent helmet light they are adequate

 

[Shut Up Legs]

The Hero 3 and 3+ (I've been using both regularly this year) are good at night, but you'll still need some light sources such as street lights to get a picture. Here's a night sample from the Hero 3, sorry about the camera tilt: the helmet mount was a bit lopsided.