How to take a lot of shots on a Xiaomi phone: a complete guide to serial shooting

Capturing fast motions or finding the perfect shot among dozens of shots are challenges that every amateur photographer faces. Xiaomi smartphones offer powerful tools for serial photography, but not everyone knows how to use them correctly. In this article, we will discuss not only standard modes, but also hidden MIUI settings that will allow you to take up to 20 frames per second on flagship models or activate ultrafast shooting at 960 FPS for video.

It's important to understand that frame counts are not just based on the phone model, but also on the firmware version, the camera settings, and even the CPU temperature. We tested the functionality on the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, Redmi Note 12 Pro+, and POCO F5 to show the differences between budget and top-end devices. If your smartphone is not coping with serial shooting, at the end of the article you will find ways to optimize performance.

1. Standard modes of serial shooting in MIUI Camera

The basic functionality is available in all Xiaomi smartphones based on MIUI 12 and later.

1. Open the Camera app.
2. Go to the Photo (main) mode.
3. Press and hold the shutter button – shooting will begin automatically.

By default, the phone makes 10-15 frames per second (depending on the model).

• 📱 Budget models (Redmi) 10A, POCO M5): up to 30 frames per capture.
• 📱 Mid-segment (Redmi Note 11 Pro, Xiaomi 12 Lite): up to 50 frames.
• 📱 Flagships (Xiaomi) 13T Pro, Mix Fold 3: up to 100+ supporter RAW.

Note that in a series shoot, the quality of the images automatically drops to 12 MP (even if the main camera supports 50+ MP), which is done to save space and speed up processing, and to return full resolution, you will have to use alternative methods (about them in the next section).

2. Hidden settings: how to increase the number of frames

MIUI hides a number of parameters that allow you to expand the capabilities of serial photography.

1. Enable Developer Mode: Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (click 7 times)
2. Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
3. Find the option Do not limit background processes and activate it.
4. Open Camera Settings → Additional → Shooting options and enable Advanced Frame Buffer (not available on all models).

After these manipulations:

• 🔹 The maximum number of staff in the series will increase by 30-40%.
• 🔹 The delay between the pictures will be reduced from 0.1c to 0.05c (on the flagships with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2).
• 🔹 It will be possible to save the series in format. HEIF (Save space without loss of quality).

Enable the developer mode|Activate "Do not limit background processes"|Clear the camera cache in the settings|Reboot the phone|Check the vacant space (minimum 5 GB)-->

Attention! Some models (Redmi 9C, POCO M4 Pro) may overheat the processor after activating these settings. If the temperature exceeds 45°C, serial shooting is automatically limited to 5 frames per second.

3. shooting with ultra-high frame rate (960 FPS)

Xiaomi's flagship models (starting with the Mi 10) support 960 frames per second video recording at 720p. This mode is ideal for slow motion (drop drop, bird wing flap) to activate:

1. Open the Camera app.
2. Go to Video Mode → Additional → Slow-Shooting.
3. Choose 960 FPS (on budget models only 120 FPS or 240 FPS are available).
4. Press the recording button – the video will last no more than 0.2 seconds in real time (stretches up to 6 seconds when playing).

Critical feature: when shooting at 960 FPS, autofocus is turned off. All objects closer to 50 cm will be blurred. Use manual mode (Pro Mode) for accurate focusing and set the focal length in advance.

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Before shooting at high FPS, turn off background applications (especially instant messengers and games) – this will reduce the load on the processor and reduce the risk of lag in the video.

4. Alternative applications for serial shooting

If standard MIUI Camera tools don't suit you, consider third-party apps that offer flexible frame rate settings, manual exposure, and even DNG (RAW) shooting.

• 📸 Open Camera (free, open source): Support for serial shooting up to 30 frames / s. Manual setting ISO, survey, white balance, keeping in JPEG or DNG.
• 📸 Camera FV-5 (30-day trial: Burst Mode with interval setting (from 0.03c). Support for external microphones. Export of the series in the ZIP-archive.
• 📸 FOOTEJ Camera (Free): Capture up to 100 frames per series. Integration with Google Photos for automatic sorting. Support HDR+ serially.

Before installing, check compatibility with your model on the developer's website.Some applications (e.g. Camera) FV-5) demand ROOT-rights to unlock the maximum settings on Xiaomi.

⚠️ Note: When using third-party cameras, turn off battery optimization for the app in Settings settings → Annexes → Permits → Battery optimization, otherwise, the serial shooting may be interrupted due to background limitations. MIUI.

5. Optimizing the phone for shooting a large number of frames

Serial photography is a resource-intensive process. If your Xiaomi is slowing down or interrupting recording, do the following:

1. Cache Cleanup: Settings → Memory → Clear cache Remove temporary camera files manually through Files → Internal Memory → DCIM →.thumbnails.
2. Turn off background processes: Settings → Battery → Performance mode (select) Activate High Performance mode during shooting.
3. Cooling setting: On flagships (Xiaomi 13 Pro, Black Shark 5), turn on Game Turbo Mode – this will redirect the heat sink to the body, preventing the processor from trottling.

For models with Snapdragon 888/8 Gen 1 (such as Xiaomi 11T Pro), it is critical to monitor the temperature. When overheating above 48 ° C, serial photography is blocked until cooling.

• 🧊 External coolers (e.g. Black Shark FunCooler Pro).
• 🔋 Charging mode with the screen off (reduces battery heating).
• 📱 Covers with heat-dissipating inserts (copper/graphite).

Post-processing of serial images

After hundreds of shots, the question is, how quickly do you sort and process the materials?

• 🖼️ Google Photos: Automatic grouping of series into albums. Animation feature for creating GIF Search by object (e.g., "cat" or "car").
• 🖼️ Adobe Lightroom Mobile: Exposure/contrast batch processing for the entire series. Synchronization of settings between shots. Export to the JPEG or TIFF lossless.
• 🖼️ Burstio (Android): Creating live photos from series. Deleting blurred frames in one click. Exporting to MP4 speed-controlled.

For professional processing, use Darktable (a free version of Lightroom for PC) with the Burst Mode Helper plugin.

• 🔍 Automatically highlight the sharpest shots in the series.
• 🎨 Apply color correction presets to the entire pack of pictures.
• 📤 Export selected images to the cloud (Google Drive, Mi Cloud).

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When processing serial images, always start by selecting the 3-5 best shots. The rest can be archived or deleted - they take up a lot of space and are rarely used.

7. Frequent mistakes and how to avoid them

Even experienced users make mistakes in serial photography, and here are the most common problems and solutions:

Another common mistake is shooting in HEIC format without device support. If you plan to edit your shots on a PC, switch to JPEG in the camera settings (Images Format → Compatible).

⚠️ Note: On models with MediaTek Helio G (e.g. Redmi) 10C) Pro Mode serial photography can lead to artifacts of color. ISO up to 100 and use a tripod.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions