How to take long exposure photos on Xiaomi: from theory to professional shots

Long exposure photography on Xiaomi smartphones offers amazing opportunities: glowing tracks, blurred waterfalls, star tracks or nightly cityscapes with prescribed lights. But many users face problems — lubricated footage, relights or no feature in the standard camera app. In this article, we will discuss how to adjust the shutter speed on different Xiaomi models (including Redmi and POCO), what accessories will help improve the result, and how to process the images for maximum effect.

It’s important to understand that long exposure on a smartphone is always a trade-off between quality and technical limitations. Unlike SLR cameras, there’s no mechanical shutter, and a smaller array is worse at handling noise. However, modern Xiaomi flagships (such as the Xiaomi 13 Ultra or Redmi K60 Pro) are equipped with advanced stabilization algorithms and manual settings that allow you to achieve impressive results. Even budget models like the POCO X5 or Redmi Note 12 support basic long exposure modes – you just need to know where to look for them.

If you've never tried exposure, start with simple scenes: moving cars at dusk or a burning candle in a dark room, which will help you understand how light behaves in long exposures, and avoid the typical mistakes.

What Xiaomi models support manual shutter speed settings

Not all Xiaomi smartphones allow you to manually set exposure times, and the feature is available in three cases:

• 📱 Flagship models with a stitched mode Pro: Xiaomi 12/13/14 series, Mi 11 Ultra, Redmi K50/K60 Pro and newer. Here, shutter speed is adjustable right in the standard camera app.
• 🔧 Smartphones with MIUI 12+ 48 MP camera: even some budget devices (for example, Redmi Note 11 Pro)+) Have a hidden Long Exposure mode in additional settings.
• 🛠️ Custom firmware devices (e.g. Pixel Experience or LineageOS) that install alternative cameras like the GCam with manual settings.

To check if you have manual mode, open the Camera app, go to the More (or Additional) section and look for Pro, Manual or Long Shutter speeds. If you don't have them, don't despair: below we'll show you how to get around this limitation.

⚠️ Note: On models without manual mode (e.g. Redmi) 10A or POCO M5) You can only mimic long exposure through third-party apps or multiple shots and then glue them together in Photoshop or Lightroom. The quality will be worse, but it will be good for experiments.

Where in the settings of the Xiaomi camera hides shutter speed

If your smartphone supports manual mode, you can find shutter speed settings in two ways:

1. Using Pro: Open the Camera app. Scroll down to the right to Professional (or Pro). In the bottom panel, find the stopwatch icon (usually labeled S or 1). Tap the icon and move the slider to the right to increase exposure time.
2. Through Hidden mode Long shutter speed: Go to Camera Settings → Additional. Activate Long shutter speed (if any). Return to mode selection, a new Light Trail or Night Long Exposure option will appear.

On some firmware (e.g. MIUI Global for the European market), manual settings can be hidden to unlock them:

1. Go to Settings → About the phone.


2.Tap 7 times on the MIUI version to activate the developer mode.




3. Go back to Settings → Additional → For developers.




4. Find the option to Allow manual camera settings and turn it on.

On smartphones with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor (for example, Xiaomi 13 Pro), the maximum shutter speed in Pro mode is limited to 32 seconds, whereas on models with Snapdragon 7.+ Gen 2 (e.g, POCO F5) — It's only 4 seconds. It's related to the way the matrix processes the signal and the capabilities. ISP (imager).

Equipment for shooting with long exposure: without what can not do

Even if your Xiaomi supports manual shutter speed, without additional accessories, it will be difficult to get clear pictures.

• 📸 Statutory: mandatory for excerpts over 1/10 Even a compact Xiaomi Mi Pocket Tripod or a flexible tripod octopus will do.
• 🔘 Remote or timer: To avoid grease when pressing the screen, use a Bluetooth remote (such as Xiaomi Bluetooth Remote) or a built-in delay timer (3-10 seconds).
• 🔋 Powerbank: Long exposure and image processing severely drain battery (-10°C and below, the smartphone can be disconnected through 20–30 minute.
• 🌑 Light filter: for daytime shooting (for example, water blur) will be required ND-filter (neutral gray) to avoid overlights. For smartphones, Kase Magnetic nozzle is suitable ND.

If you're shooting at night, bring a red light with you, which will keep your eyes clear and help you tune the composition, and you'll need Star Walk 2 for the sky, which shows the constellations and the trajectories of the stars.

⚠️ Note: When shooting with a shutter speed of more than 10 seconds on Xiaomi with AMOLED screens (for example, Xiaomi) 12T Pro) can cause a “burn” effect, where static interface elements (such as battery icons) are printed on the matrix. To avoid this, reduce the brightness of the screen to a minimum or use the “Always on screen” mode with a black background.

Install your smartphone on a tripod | Turn off autofocus (translate to manual) | Set a minimum ISO (100-200) | Activate a timer or connect a remote | Check the battery charge (minimum 50%)

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Step-by-step: how to shoot with long exposure on Xiaomi

Consider the process using the Xiaomi 13 Ultra example (similar to other models with Pro mode):

1. Preparation: Set your smartphone on a tripod. If you don't have one, put your phone on a stable surface (like a bridge parapet), plug in a Bluetooth remote or activate a timer in the camera settings (Settings → Timer → 3s or 10s). Clean the lens of your fingerprints, they create glare.
2. Set up the camera: Go to Pro mode. Touch the ISO icon and set 100 (minimum to reduce noise). Click on the shutter speed icon (S) and move the slider to the desired value (for example, 10" for glowing tracks of cars). Turn off autofocus by touching the screen and holding your finger until AF-L (focus lock) appears.

Composition and shooting:

• Point the camera at the object. For nightscapes, use the rule of thirds (turn on the grid in the settings).
• Press the down button (or use the remote). Don't touch the smartphone until the end of the exposure!
• After shooting, check the histogram (light distribution chart) - if the peaks rest on the right edge, reduce the shutter speed.

For the glowing tracks of cars, choose the shutter speed of 5-15 seconds, for the water wash - 1-4 seconds, and for star tracks - 20-30 seconds (on flagships). If the picture is too dark, increase the ISO to 400-800, but not higher - otherwise there will be noise.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Even experienced photographers have problems shooting on their smartphones, and here are the most common ones:

• 📵 Lubricated shots: Reason: no tripod or touching the screen while shooting. Solution: use a timer or remote control, check the stability of the tripod.
• 💡 Overlights: Reason: Too long exposure for a bright scene (like a light or moon).Solution: Reduce shutter speed or use ND-filter.
• 🌫️ Noise in picture: Cause: High ISO (>1600) or long exposure on budget models.Solution: shoot in RAW and handle in Lightroom with noise cancellation.
• 🔴 Red in night shots: The reason: automatic white balance (AWB) Solution: Manually set white balance to 3,500–4000K.

Another common problem is streaking in images that are more than 10 seconds of exposure, a matrix reading artifact that is common in smartphones, and to avoid it, take a series of frames that are 2-5 seconds of exposure and glue them together in Photoshop (Stack Mode → Mean tool).

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If you are shooting a waterfall or the sea, use a shutter speed of 1/2-2 seconds. For silk water, 1 second is enough, but if you want to completely blur the waves, increase to 4-8 seconds.

Image processing: how to make photos even better

Raw long exposures often look dull or have color distortions, and processing will help to fix this.

1. RAW vs JPEG: If you've shot in RAW, import the file to Lightroom or Darktable. JPEG is Snapseed or VSCO.
2. Exposure correction: Raise the Shadows (+30–50) and lower the Lights (-10–20). Increase the Contrast (+15–25) for clarity.
3. Noise reduction: In Lightroom, use the Reduction Noise slider (values 20–40). For JPEG, the Reduce Noise filter in Photoshop is suitable.

Color correction:

• Set the temperature at 4000-5000K for natural tones.
• Add saturation (+10-15) for the brightness of the lights.

For pictures with glowing tracks of cars, you can add vignetting (blackening of the edges) to Snapseed (Tools) → Vignetting to focus on the center of the shot, and if you've shot stars, try to increase clarity (+20) and apply the mask to the sky to highlight the tracks.

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Shoot in RAW if your Xiaomi supports this format. RAW saves more detail in shadows and light areas, which is critical for long shutter speeds.

Alternative ways of long exposure on Xiaomi

If your model doesn’t support manual shutter speed settings, there are workarounds:

• 📲 The latest version of the Slow Shutter Cam (iOS/Android) — imitate 60 So, you can glue together a few frames. NightCap Camera -- specializes in night photography, there's Star Trails. Manual Camera -- gives you access to manual settings, even on budget models.

GCam will need to unlock downloads from unknown sources (Settings → Applications → Special Access → Install Unknown Apps). Note that not all versions of GCam run consistently on Xiaomi – look for builds optimized for your processor (Snapdragon or MediaTek).

⚠️ Note: When using GCam on MediaTek-enabled smartphones (e.g., Redmi Note 12) 5G) This can be a green tint in the images, because Google's algorithms are incompatible with the images. ISP The solution is to look for custom configs (setting files) for your model on forums like XDA Developers.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions