How to take a lot of photos on Xiaomi: secrets of serial shooting and automation

Have you ever tried to capture a fast moment — a baby jump, a bird flight or a dynamic sports match — but only got blurry footage? Or wanted to create a sunset timelapse but didn’t know how to set up a Xiaomi camera for automatic shooting? The brand’s smartphones (from the budget Redmi to the flagship Mi 13 Ultra) hide a host of features for mass photography that 90% of users don’t even know they have.

In this article, we'll look at not only standard burst shooting modes, but also advanced techniques, from hidden camera settings to third-party automation apps, how to take 100+ photos per minute without loss of quality, set up interval timelapses, and even how to circumvent MIUI's limit on the number of shots, and why it's sometimes better to use Pro mode instead of automatic, and how to properly process hundreds of photos after shooting.

1. Serial shooting: basic mode for dynamic scenes

The easiest way to take lots of photos on Xiaomi is to activate serial photography, which is available on all models starting with the Redmi Note 7 (2019) and later, which is enabled by long-term pressing of the shutter button or a special icon in the camera interface (depending on the version of MIUI).

The speed of shooting varies:

• 📱 Budget models (Redmi) 9A, Poco M3): up to 7 frames per second (FPS) 12MP resolution.
• 📱 Mid-segment (Redmi Note 12, Xiaomi 11 Lite): 10–15 FPS at 12-48 MP.
• 📱 Flagships (Mi 12 Pro, Mi 13 Ultra): up to 30 FPS 48MP (with subsequent combination of 12MP).

Important: when shooting Xiaomi automatically saves only the best shots (by algorithm) MIUI), But the originals stay in the folder. DCIM/Camera/Burst. To see all the photos, use a file manager or connect your phone to your PC.

⚠️ Note: When shooting in format RAW serial mode is turned off - the camera does not more than 3 frames per second due to the high load on the processor.

2. Interval shooting (timelapse) for long processes

If you want to capture slow changes, like flower blooming, cloud movement, or house building, use interval photography. On Xiaomi, it's hidden in the Additional menu (or More in global firmware).

Interval settings:

• ⏱️ 0.5-1 seconds: for accelerated motion (e.g. crowds outside).
• ⏱️ 2-5 seconds: a universal option for sunset or sunrise.
• ⏱️ 10–30 seconds: for long-term processes (plant growth, repairs).
• ⏱️ 1-5 minutes: extreme case (for example, shooting a starry sky).

On flagships (Mi 11 Ultra, Mi 12S Ultra), HyperLapse mode is available with automatic stabilization - it selects the interval depending on the lighting. For budget models (Redmi 10, Poco X3), it is better to set the interval manually through the Google Camera application (requires a root or patch).

* On the Mi 13 Ultra, the duration is limited only by disk space and processor temperature.

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To capture nighttime timelapse (stars, northern lights), use a tripod and turn off autofocus in Pro mode. Set shutter speeds of 10-20 seconds and ISO 1600-3200.

3. Hidden features of the MIUI camera for mass shooting

MIUI hides a few useful options that are not visible in the main interface, so you can activate them:

1. Open the camera and swipe up the screen (on some models, swipe to the left).
2. Press on. ⚙ Settings → Additional parameters.
3. Turn it on: 🔄 Continuous autofocus (CAF) — serially. 📸 Save all frames of the series (by default) MIUI It only leaves 5-10 "best"). 🔋 Temperature limit – turn off if shooting is interrupted due to overheating.

On models with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/2 chip (Mi 12, Mi 13, Redmi K50) in the engineering menu (#4636###), you can increase the camera buffer to 50 frames in the series instead of the standard 20.

Battery charge > 50% | Memory cleared (minimum 2GB free) | Power saving mode turned off | Active mode (for stability) | Clean lens-->

4. Applications for shooting automation

A standard MIUI camera limits the number of photos in a series (usually 50 to 100 frames). To capture thousands of photos in a row, use third-party apps:

• 📷 Open Camera (free, no ads): Support RAW + JPEG Set the shooting interval to 0.1 second. ISO, exposure, white balance.
• 🎥 Camera FV-5 (The paid version, 5$): DSLR-It's a similar interface to a histogram, it supports scripts for automation (e.g., shooting every 30 seconds for an hour). DNG professionally.
• ⏱️ Lapse It (for timelapse): 1 second to 24 hours intervals; Automatically assemble music video. Support 4K compatible.

Before installing, check compatibility with your model on the developer's website. On Xiaomi with MediaTek processors (Redmi Note 11, Poco M4 Pro), some features may not work due to driver limitations.

⚠️ Note: When using third-party cameras, turn off optimization MIUI in the developer settings (Settings) → The phone. → Version. MIUI → 5 times to tap → For developers → Turn off optimization MIUI). Otherwise, the applications will be closed.

5 How to process hundreds of photos after shooting

It's easy to take 500 photos, but how do you find the best ones?

1. Automatic Sort: Use Google Photos (Help → Animations will collect similar shots in GIFs). In Galery MIUI, enable Event Grouping (Settings → Lab → Grouping).
2. Remo Duplicate Photos Remover will find similar shots (95 percent accuracy). In Lightroom Mobile, use the Ranked → No Ranked Filter for quick dropouts.

Package processing:

• Snapseed: Apply one preset to all photos (Selective correction tool).
• Adobe Lightroom: Sync lighting settings between frames.

For timelapses, use CapCut or KineMaster — they automatically stabilize the video and pick up the playback speed. On Xiaomi with a Snapdragon 865 processor and newer rendering 4K-imelaps takes 5-10 minutes.

Advanced techniques: scripts and ADB-team

For enthusiasts ready to dive into the system settings, there are ways to unlock undocumented camera features:

Method 1: ADB-team to increase series buffer

adb shell setprop persist.camera.burst.max 200


adb shell setprop persist.camera.burst.interval 50

These commands increase the frame limit in the series to 200 and reduce the interval between them to 50 ms (20 FPS).Works on Xiaomi with Snapdragon 855/865/888.

Method 2: Scripts for Tasker

With the help of Tasker and the AutoInput plugin, you can automate shooting:

• 🤖 Starting the camera on schedule (for example, every morning at 7:00 for shooting sunrise).
• 🤖 100 photos in motion detection (a connected sensor is required).
• 🤖 Automatic uploading of photos to the cloud after shooting.

⚠️ Attention: Use ADB Tasker requires a fastboot oem unlock, which resets the phone to factory settings. On models with MediaTek (such as the Redmi Note 10), unlocking can lead to a loss of warranty.

7 Mistakes and Their Solutions in Mass Shooting

Even Xiaomi flagships have problems with intense shooting, and here are the most common ways to fix them:

Xiaomi has added Camera Cooling (Camera Settings → Additional) with MIUI 14 and later, and turn it on if shooting is interrupted due to overheating, the system will limit performance, but will allow you to shoot longer.

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For maximum stability during long shooting, disable all background applications through Settings → Apps → Autostart and activate Do Not Disturb mode.

FAQ: Frequent questions about mass shooting on Xiaomi