How to take a photo with a long exposure on Xiaomi: from night trails to pictures

The long shutter speed on Xiaomi’s smartphone allows you to create professional shots that were previously only available to DSLR owners, which can capture the movement of stars, blurry water flows, light traces of cars or even draw with light in the air. But how do you turn that on if it's not in the standard camera interface? And why on some Redmi models, or why on some of them? POCO The feature works differently than on the flagship Mi 13 Ultra?

In this article, we will discuss not only the basic settings, but also the hidden features of the Camera application, as well as workarounds for devices where the long shutter speed is blocked by default. ISO You can choose white balance for different scenes, and why it is sometimes better to use third-party apps like Camera. FV-5 Or ProCam X. And also – how to process the received images so that they look like a professional camera.

What is a long exposure and why you need it

Long (or slow) shutter speed is a shooting mode in which the camera shutter stays open longer than usual, allowing more light to flow through the matrix, so that the moving objects in the photo blur, and the static ones remain clear, and the effect is used to:

• 🌌 Astrophotos: Photography of the Milky Way or Star Trek.
• 🚗 Light painting: drawing with light (lightpainting) or fixing tracks from car headlights.
• 💦 Waterfalls and rivers: water looks like a silk haze.
• 🌃 Night Cities: Blurred Clouds or Skyscraper Lights.

Xiaomi's long shutter speed is software-based: instead of a physical shutter, it uses an algorithm that folds several frames into one, which bypasses the limitations of a small matrix, but requires the phone to be fixed on a tripod or stable surface, and even a slight shaking of the hand will ruin the picture.

⚠️ Note: On models with optical stabilizer (OIS), like Xiaomi 13 Pro or Mi 11 Ultra, you can try to remove from your hands on exposure to 1/4 But for exposures, it's longer. 1 A tripod is still necessary for a second.

What Xiaomi models support long exposure

The feature is available on most Xiaomi smartphones, but its implementation depends on the version of the Camera application and hardware capabilities.

If your model is not listed, check the version of the Camera app in Settings. → The phone. → Version. MIUI. On devices with MIUI 14 and newer mode can be hidden – it can be activated through camera settings → Additionally. → Long exposure.

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

The process differs depending on the model and version. MIUI. Consider two main scenarios: through a stock app and using third-party tools.

Method 1: Built-in mode (for supported models)

1. Open the Camera app.
2. Scroll the list of modes to the left to the item Additional (or More).
3. Choose Long Shutter speed (on some models – Light painting or Night photography with manual settings).
4. Lock your smartphone on a tripod or stable surface.
5. Press the badge. ⚙️ (settings) and select exposure time (from 1 to 32 seconds).
6. Touch the shutter button. Don't touch the phone while you're shooting, even the vibration of the touch can ruin the shot.

Battery charge > 30%|Statutory or stable pillar|Autofocus (manual focusing) disabled)|Minimum selected ISO (100-400)|Notifications disabled (vibration knocks the frame down)-->

Method 2: Professional Mode (for all models)

If there is no separate mode, use the Professional Mode:

1. In the Camera app, select Professional (or Pro).
2. Tap the S icon (suspension) and manually set the value from 1" (1 second) to the maximum (usually 8" or 16").
3. Adjust. ISO (Sensitivity: for dark scenes — 800-1600, light-forward — 100-400.
4. Adjust white balance manually (automatic can crash when exposed long).
5. Turn off autofocus and focus manually by pulling the slider MF.
6. Use a shutter timer (2 or 10 seconds) to avoid shaking when pressed.

⚠️ Attention: Redmi and POCO With budget matrices, when you're up to 4 seconds, you can get a lot of noise. ISO up to 400 and use an external light source (e.g. flashlight).

Method 3: Third-party applications

If the stock camera doesn’t support long shutter speed, install one of these apps:

• 📱 Camera FV-5: full-time, ISO and RAW-It keeps exposure up to 30 seconds.
• 📸 ProCam X: user-friendly interface with histogram and manual focus.
• 🌙 Night Camera: Specializes in long exposure night photography.

When you first start, give the app permission to Camera, Storage and Microphone (for some features). In the settings, select maximum resolution and disable digital stabilization.

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If you shoot with a long exposure, the photos turn out too dark, try to increase the ISO up to 1600 and use an external light source (e.g., point a flashlight at an angle of 45 degrees).

Optimal settings for different scenes

There's no universal setting, it depends on the lights and the objects that move, and here are some recommendations for popular scenarios:

Light painting (lightpainting)

For drawing with light (e.g. flashlight or Bengali lights):

• 🔦 Excerpt: 5-10 seconds.
• 📱 ISO: 400-800 (avoidance).
• 🎨 White balance: 3500-4000K (warm-light).
• 📏 Focus: manual, at a distance 1-2 foot-on".

Tip: Use a black background (such as a wall in a dark room) and a bright light source (LED-A flashlight or laser pointer. Movements should be smooth - sharp jerks will leave intermittent lines.

2. Photography of waterfalls or rivers

For the silk water effect:

• 💧 Excerpt: 1-4 seconds (for small streams) or 8-15 seconds (for waterfalls).
• 🌞 ISO: 100-200 (daylight), 400-800 (dusk).
• 🔄 White balance: 5000-5500K (daylight).
• 📐 Composition: Place water according to the rule of thirds, add a static object (stone, bridge) for contrast.

Problem: with bright sun even at a minimum ISO The photo can be over-lit. The solution is to use it. ND-filter (for example, the nozzle on the lens) or remove in cloudy weather.

3. City nightscapes

To photograph the lights of the city or the stars:

• 🌃 Excerpt: 10-30 seconds (for stars, before) 20c, otherwise they will turn into tracks).
• 🌌 ISO: 1600-3200 (but prepare for the noise).
• 🔭 White balance: 4000K (for warm city lights) or 6500K (cold-sky).
• 📍 Focus: manually to infinity (image) ∞).

On Xiaomi smartphones with a matrix less 1/1.5" (For example, Redmi Note 11) upon ISO higher 3200 It's going to make a lot of noise, and then you'd better take some exposure shots. 5-8 Seconds and glue them in Photoshop.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Even with the right setup, you can get corrupted footage, and here are the most common problems and solutions.

• 📵 Lubricated photo: the phone moved during the shooting. Use a tripod and a shutter timer.
• 🔥 Overlights: too long exposure for a bright scene. Reduce time or use ND-filter.
• 🐱 Noise (colored dots): high ISO. Try to reduce sensitivity and increase exposure.
• 🌫️ Blurred background: misfocus. Switch to manual focus and check sharpness on enlarged preview.
• 🔋 The camera is interrupted, the battery is dead or overheated, charge the phone to 100% and let it cool.

Xiaomi feature: some models with long exposure automatically turn on night processing mode, which can add artifacts. To turn it off, go to the camera settings → Additionally. → Process night shots and deactivate the option.

⚠️ Note: On smartphones with Snapdragon processor 7xx (for example, POCO X5 Pro) when exposure is longer than 10 seconds, it can be automatically cropped, in which case use third-party applications or shoot a series of frames for 5 seconds, and then glue them together.

Post-photo processing

Raw, long exposure shots often require refinement, and here is a minimum set of actions to improve:

1. Pruning and alignment: In Snapseed or Lightroom, straighten the horizon and trim the extra elements.
2. Noise reduction: Use the Reduce Noise tool (in Lightroom) or the Topaz Denoise plugin.
3. Exposure correction: Raise shadows and lower lights to recover details.
4. Color correction: Increase the contrast by 10-15 Move the temperature to cooler (for night shots) or warmer (for light pictures). +5...+10, if the frame is too dark.

Sharpness

Sharpening

For lighting, it is useful to use color inversion (in Photoshop: Image) → Adjustments → Invert, to get the effect of "negative drawing" can also be applied texture layer (such as paper or fabric) in Overlay mode for artistic effect.

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Take it down. RAW (if supported, to have more processing capabilities.In the stock camera Xiaomi RAW Included in the professional settings (Save in the RAW).

Alternative methods: shooting a long exposure video

If your Xiaomi does not support long exposure in photo mode, you can bypass the restriction through video shooting:

1. Enable the Video mode in the Camera app.
2. Select the maximum resolution (for example, 4K 30fps).
3. Lock your phone on a tripod and start recording.
4. After shooting, remove one frame from the video using apps: 🎬 VLC (on PC: Video → Screenshot by frame). 📱 Video to Photo (on Android). 🖥️ FFmpeg (team: ffmpeg) -i input.mp4 -vf "select='eq(n,100)'" -vframes 1 output.jpg).

Advantage of the method: you can get a frame with equivalent exposure 1/30 seconds 30 fps, which is suitable for motion (e.g. cars or people) and the disadvantage is low resolution compared to the photo (even if you are a photo). 4K video will give you a shot 8 MPP).

FAQ: Frequent questions about long exposure on Xiaomi