How to shoot a starry sky on a Xiaomi phone: from preparation to post-processing

Why Xiaomi is a Good Approach for Astrophotography

Xiaomi’s modern smartphones – especially the flagship Mi series 11/12/13, Redmi Note 11 Pro+ and POCO F4/F5 — They are equipped with night-mode cameras and manual settings that allow you to photograph stars without professional equipment. 1/1.28"), Optical stabilizers and the possibility of shooting in format RAW, What's critical for post-processing.

But even budget models like Redmi. 10C or POCO M5 The key is to understand the limitations: small smartphone sensors collect little light, so you need long shutter speeds (from 10 seconds) and minimal digital noise. From app selection to image processing in Lightroom Mobile.

Important: 70 percent of the quality of the final photo depends on the shooting conditions, and even the top-end Xiaomi 13 Ultra won't work if you're taking pictures in a city with a high light or a full moon, so the first step is planning.

1.Preparation: When and Where to Photograph Stars

Best time for astrophotography is New Moon (check the calendar in the Star Walk app) 2 Or PhotoPills. 2026 year-perfect dates: 10-12 March, 8-10 April, 7-9 Avoid days when the moon is visible more than on the northern hemisphere. 30% — Her light clogs up stars.

Choose the area according to three criteria:

• 🌌 Light level: Use the Light Pollution Map. Optimal green/blue zones (Bortle) 3-4). In the red zones (cities) you will only shoot the moon and the bright planets.
• 🏔️ The terrain: open spaces (fields, lakes, mountain peaks) with no trees or buildings on the horizon, except if you want to capture stars above the silhouette of the forest.
• 🌡️ Weather: cloudless skies (check in Windy or Clear Outside) Fog and haze scatter the light of stars.

⚠️ Warning: shooting in winter gives clearer pictures due to low humidity, but the smartphone battery is discharged in the air 2-3 Use an external power bank with heated heat.

2. Xiaomi camera settings for shooting stars

Standard Camera appendix MIUI It's only suitable for basic lunar imaging, and the sky requires one of the specialized applications:

* In GCam, real shutter speed is limited to 4 seconds, but the application automatically combines multiple frames into one.

Recommended settings for shooting (on the example of Camera) FV-5):

• 📸 Format: RAW (DNG) — post-processing.
• ⏱️ Excerpt: 15-30 seconds (start with 20 sec and adjust).
• 🔘 Diaphragm: maximum open (e.g., diaphragm, f/1.9 Xiaomi 12 Pro).
• 📏 ISO: 1600-6400 (The higher the noise, but the brighter the stars).
• 🎯 Focus: Manual Focus to Infinity (or slightly closer for wide-angles).
• 🔄 White balance: 3500-4000K (cold tones will reduce the light).

Install an application for manual settings|

Disable autofocus and auto exposure|

Expose ISO not above 6400|

Lock the smartphone on a tripod|

Turn on the aircraft mode to avoid vibrations-->

⚠️ Attention: on Xiaomi smartphones with Snapdragon processors 8 Gen 1/2 (for example, Xiaomi 13) If you're shooting for a long time, you might get overheated. Use a cooling case or pause between shots.

3.Equipment: What you need besides a phone

Minimum set for shooting the starry sky:

• 📱 Smartphone: models with support RAW and manual settings (see table above).
• 🪐 Tripod: mandatory! Even the slightest shaking of the hand will ruin the frame. MT-08.
• 🔋 Power Bank: Long exposure shoots quickly put the battery down, and Quick Charge 3.0 models (e.g. Xiaomi) are optimal. 20000mAh).
• 🔭 Wide-angle lens (optional): clip-on lenses like Xiaomi Lens (17mm) widen.
• 🎛️ Remote: for remote shutter release (e.g., Xiaomi Bluetooth Remote).

For advanced shooting (for example, star tracks) you will need:

• ⚙️ Equatorial mounting (e.g. iOptron SkyGuider Pro) – compensates for the Earth’s rotation.
• 🔦 Red-LED flashlight - for setting up equipment without lighting.

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If you don't have a tripod, use the tools you can use: a folded towel on the roof of the car, a sandbag or even a backpack full of clothes, the main thing is a hard fixation of the phone.

4. Shooting technique: from single frames to timelapses

Basic technique of shooting the starry sky on Xiaomi:

1. Focus: Put the camera in manual mode, set the focus to infinity (or a little closer for wide-angles). On the screen, the stars should look like dots, not blurry circles.
2. Composition: Use the rule of thirds. If you have a landscape (trees, mountains) in the frame, place it in the lower third. For a clear sky, the center of the frame on the Milky Way.
3. Series of frames: make it 10-15 You can fold them up to StarStaX or Sequator to reduce noise.

To shoot the tracks of the stars (the trail from the rotation of the Earth):

• ⏳ Set shutter speed 30 seconds, the interval between frames - 1 second.
• 📹 Take it down. 100-200 staff (total duration) 30-60 minute).
• 🎥 Process in StarStaX (Lighten mode) or LRTimelapse.

For timelapses:

• ⏱️ Excerpt: 10-15 seconds: 15-20 seconds.
• 🎬 Frame count: at least 300 (for 10-second video at 30 fps).
• 📱 Apps: Lapse It or Hyperlapse from Instagram.

5 Post-processing: How to "pull" stars out of RAW

Raw files RAW (DNG) Xiaomi's camera looks dull and flat -- that's OK. They need to be processed:

• 📱 Mobile: Lightroom Mobile, Snapseed, Darkroom.
• 💻 Desktop: Adobe Lightroom Classic, RawTherapee (free), Darktable.

The basic processing steps in Lightroom Mobile are:

1. Exposition: increase by +1.5...+2.5 EV.
2. Contrast: +30...+50 for star-spotting.
3. Shadows: Lift up to +50...+70 to manifest the Milky Way.
4. Temperature: Shift towards cold tones (3500-4000K).
5. Noise suppression: Luminance +20...+30, Color +15...+25.
6. Sharpness: Mask of field with radius 1.0-1.2 pixel.

For adding several frames:

• 🖥️ StarStaX (free): Lighten mode for star tracks, Comet mode for meteors.
• 🖥️ Sequator (free): Automatic staffing leveling and noise removal.

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Processing in RAW grant 30-50% more detail than working with JPEG. Even budget Xiaomi (like Redmi Note) 11 Pro) when shooting in DNG They allow the Milky Way to be pulled out, invisible in the original image.

6 Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Mistake 1: Blurred stars.

Reasons:

• 📱 Incorrect focusing (autofocus or manual setting not at infinity).
• 🌬️ Wind or vibration (even a light breeze trembling tripod).
• ⏱️ Too long exposure without a tracker (stars are smeared due to the rotation of the Earth).

Solution: Use Live View in the app for precise focus, shorten shutter speed to 15 seconds, or use an equatorial mount.

Mistake 2: Too noisy pictures.

Reasons:

• 📸 High. ISO (Over 6400 in most of Xiaomi).
• 🌡️ Overheating matrix (characteristic of Snapdragon 8)+ Gen 1).
• 📱 Shooting in JPEG instead RAW.

Solution: Lower down ISO up to 3200, take a series of frames for subsequent addition, use cooling.

Error 3: The stars are not visible in the photo.

Reasons:

• 🌆 Shooting in the zone of strong illumination (city, moon).
• 🕒 Insufficient shutter speed (less than 10 seconds).
• 📱 Closed diaphragm (e.g, f/2.8 instead f/1.7).

Solution: check the light map, increase the shutter speed to 20-30 Seconds, open the aperture to maximum.

⚠️ Attention: on Xiaomi smartphones with Sony cameras IMX766 (for example, Xiaomi 12T Pro) with ISO It's purple noise above 8,000, and in this case, it's better to do a series of frames with a purple noise. ISO 6400 and fold them.

7. Examples of photos: what can be shot on Xiaomi

Even Xiaomi’s budget models are capable of capturing:

• 🌌 Milky Way: visible from March to October in the Northern Hemisphere, requires a wide-angle lens (or clip-on lens) and shutter speed of 20+ seconds.
• 🌠 Meteor streams: Perseids (August), Geminids (December) Use a 1-second frame series.
• 🪐 Planets: Jupiter and Saturn (as seen as bright dots), Venus (evening/morning star.
• 🌑 Lunar craters: shoot in Pro Mode mode with exposure 1/200 sec ISO 100.
• ⭐ Constellations: Orion, Big Dipper. Use the SkyView app to target.

Examples of settings for different objects:

1. Extend your hand and clench your fist.

2. Measure two fists upwards from the horizon - there begins the bright part of the Milky Way (between March and October).-->

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions