How to take long shutter speed photos on a Xiaomi phone: from theory to practice

Long exposure on a smartphone is not a luxury, but a real opportunity to create professional shots even on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+ It's a Xiaomi 13 Ultra, and many people mistakenly think that you need a SLR camera to capture the light tracks of cars, the blurry water, or the starry sky. In fact, modern flagships and even budget models Xiaomi are equipped with all the necessary tools – you just need to know where to look for them and how to apply them.

In this article, we'll look at not only the basic shutter speed settings in the standard camera app, but also the hidden features of Pro Mode, third-party applications for advanced photography, and practical tips for frame stabilization and post-processing. We'll focus on the noise problems on budget models and how to minimize them without losing quality. If you've ever tried to take a picture of a night city but only got dark or blurry shots, this guide is for you.

What is a long shutter speed and why it is needed on a smartphone

Long (or slow) shutter speed is a photography technique where the camera shutter stays open longer than usual, allowing more light to flow through the matrix, and as a result, moving objects in the image become blurred, and static ones become more detailed. On Xiaomi smartphones, this effect is simulated programmatically, but with the right settings, the result is almost indistinguishable from the mirror.

Where the long shutter speed on the phone is applied:

• 🌌 Astrophotography: shooting the Milky Way or star tracks (on flagships like Xiaomi) 13T Pro with large matrices).
• 🚗 Lighting: blurred car lights on the track or rotating rides.
• 💧 Water and Clouds: Silky Falls or the Smooth Motion of Clouds.
• 🎆 Fireworks: fixing the entire fireworks in one frame.

The main disadvantage of shooting with a long exposure on a smartphone is the digital noise that occurs due to the small size of the matrix. However, even on the Redmi Note 11 Pro, you can get an acceptable result if you follow a few rules: use a tripod, shoot in a camera. RAW and tune in ISO.

What Xiaomi models support manual shutter speed settings

Not all Xiaomi smartphones allow you to manually control shutter speed. in budget models (e.g. Redmi). 10A POCO M5) Only Night Mode is available, which simulates long shutter speeds but without the flexibility of settings. The full Pro Mode with manual exposure control is available in the next series:

If your model is not in the table, check for Pro Mode manually: open the Camera app, go to the More (or Additional) section and look for Pro or Manual, MIUI Global) this mode can be hidden – it can be activated through the camera settings → Additional parameters.

⚠️ Note: On smartphones with Snapdragon processor 4xx (Like Redmi. 9A) Even with Pro Mode, the maximum shutter speed is often limited to 2-4 seconds due to weak iron acceleration of image processing.

Step-by-step: how to turn on long shutter speed in a standard camera

If your Xiaomi supports Pro Mode, follow this instruction to set up shutter speed:

1. Open the Camera app and go to Pro (or Manual) mode, which is hidden behind a swipe to the left or in the More menu on some models.
2. At the bottom of the screen, find a slider with the S icon (suspension). Click on it to open the value scale.
3. Move the slider to the right to increase exposure time. The available values depend on the model (from the model). 1/4000 before 30–32 seconds).
4. Adjust. ISO (For long exposure, a value of 100-400 is recommended to minimize noise.
5. Click on the screen to focus (in manual mode, focusing doesn’t always work automatically).
6. Lock your smartphone on a tripod or stable surface and press the down button. A countdown timer will appear on the screen.

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On models without Pro Mode (like Redmi 10), you can use Night Mode, but it automatically selects shutter speed to increase the shutter speed:

1. Activate Night Mode.
2. Press the badge. ⏱ (Timer and select the maximum time (usually 5-7 seconds).
3. Hold the phone still until the end of the shoot.

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If your model doesn’t have Pro Mode, try third-party apps like Camera. FV-5 Manual Camera – These often reveal the hidden capabilities of the camera.

Best settings for different scenes: water, stars, light tracks

There are no universal parameters for long exposure – it all depends on lighting, object movement and even air temperature (in the cold, the matrix can overheat). Below are basic recommendations for popular scenarios that can be adapted to your Xiaomi model.

1. Photography of blurred water (waterfalls, rivers, fountains)

• 🌊 Shutter speed: 1-4 seconds (for strong blur - up to 10 seconds).
• 📸 ISO: 100–200 (to avoid noise).
• 🔍 Focus: Manual, to the nearest static object.
• ⚡ Additional: Use ND-filter (if any) for daytime photography.

2. Light tracks of cars or starry sky

• 🚗 Shutter speed: 10–30 seconds (for stars, up to 20 seconds, otherwise they will turn into lines).
• 🌙 ISO: 800–1600 (on flagships you can raise to 3200).
• 📱 Format: RAW (for further processing in Lightroom).
• 🔋 Attention: At ISO > 1600 on budget models will be a lot of noise.

3. Fireworks or fireworks

• 🎇 Shutter speed: 2-8 seconds (depending on the intensity of the explosions).
• 🎯 Focus: Focus on a distant object (such as a roof of a house).
• 🔄 Serial shooting: Use a timer or remote for multiple shots.

Problems and solutions: noise, overheating, blurring

Long exposure photography on a smartphone is often accompanied by artifacts that spoil the shot, and here are the most common problems and ways to fix them:

Digital noise (grain)

Reason: High. ISO Or a long exposure on a small matrix:

• 📉 Lower down. ISO up to 100-400 and increase the shutter speed.
• 🖼️ Take it down. RAW and process in Lightroom (use the noise reduction tool).
• ❄️ Cool your phone before shooting (the heated matrix makes more noise).

2. blurring due to shaking

Even a slight movement of the hand when holding. 1/10 It's a solution that's going to grease you:

• 📱 Use a tripod or improvised support (such as a stack of books folded up).
• ⏱ Turn on the delay timer of the descent (2-10 seconds).
• 🎧 Connect wired headphones and use the volume button as a trigger.

3. The chamber overheating

Prolonged shooting at maximum settings can cause overheating, especially on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (e.g. Xiaomi 13 Ultra). Signs: automatic camera shutdown or warning "Camera overheated."

• ❄️ Take off your case before shooting.
• 🔄 Take breaks between frames (30–60 seconds).
• 📴 Close background applications consuming the processor.

⚠️ Note: Xiaomi with a MediaTek Helio G processor (such as the Redmi Note 11) can produce a stripe artifact — horizontal lines in the image — that is a hardware feature that can only be fixed by post-processing.

The side of the application for advanced shooting

Standard camera. MIUI It's limited in function, especially on budget models. To have full control of shutter speed, focus, and white balance, you should install one of these apps:

Before installing, check if the app supports your model through Camera2 API. For that:

1. Install. Camera2 API Probe from Google Play.
2. Start the test if the Hardware Support Level section is specified FULL or LEGACY, The manual settings will be available.

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On Xiaomi with Snapdragon processor 8xx Third-party apps often give a better result than a standard camera, thanks to support for 10-bit HDR and advanced noise reduction.

Post-processing: how to save a frame with a long exposure

Even a perfectly shot often requires reworking, and on Xiaomi smartphones, you can use it as built-in tools. MIUI, Main problems and ways to fix them:

Noise reduction

Use this:

• 📱 Built-in editor: Gallery → Edit → Details. → Noise suppression.
• 🖥️ Lightroom Mobile: Denoise tool (moderate value 20-30).
• 🤖 Topaz Denoise AI: AI processing for complex cases (requires a powerful PC).

2. Exposure correction

If the picture is too dark or light:

• 🌓 In Snapseed: Tool Exposition (+0.5 +1.5 EV).
• 🎨 In Lightroom: Tonal correction curves (raise shadows without clogging light).

3. Fluidity correction

Light blur can be reduced:

• 🔍 Adobe Photoshop Express: Sharp filter (50-70 masking%).
• 📲 In Remini: AI-increased sharpness (cautiously - can add artifacts).

⚠️ Attention: During processing RAW-Xiaomi files in Lightroom disable automatic lens profile correction – it often spoils geometry on wide-angle modules.

On Xiaomi 13 Ultra and 12S Ultra when filming in RAW with exposure of more than 15 seconds, the temperature of the matrix is recorded in the metadata - if it is above 40°C, the noise reduction in post-processing will be ineffective.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions