How to take a picture of the stars on the phone Xiaomi Redmi Note 9

Xiaomi smartphone owners often wonder how well their device has for night shooting. Redmi Note 9 is a popular model of the middle segment, which can surprise the quality of pictures with the right approach. Many users mistakenly believe that shooting stars necessarily need an expensive SLR camera, but modern processing algorithms allow you to get decent results even with a budget sensor.

The process of creating a starshot requires not only technical training of the device, but also an understanding of the physical principles of shooting in low light. In this article, we will discuss in detail what settings Xiaomi camera needs to activate, how to prepare a tripod and why automatic mode is often useless. You will learn how to control shutter speed and ISO to capture the Milky Way or just bright stars.

Before we get to the settings, it's worth noting that the success of night photography on the Redmi Note 9 depends on the stability of the phone's position. Any, even minimal hand shaking will lead to lubrication, as the matrix will accumulate light for a few seconds.

Preparation of equipment and choice of location

The first thing you need is a stable support, and because the long exposure is the basis of astrophotography on a smartphone, you can't hold the device in your hands. The ideal solution is a classic tripod, but in extreme cases, you can point your phone against a stone, a curb or a sandbag, fixing it with a rubber band or a load.

The second critical factor is light pollution, and it's almost useless to shoot stars in the middle of a metropolis, because street lights clog up the faint lights of distant stars, and you have to go out of town, into a field, or into a forest, where the sky is dark even at night.

• 🌑 Choose a night with a new moon or when the moon has not risen yet to avoid the sky shining.
• 🔦 Bring a power bank with you, as the operation of the screen and the processor in long exposure mode quickly drains the battery.
• 🧹 Wipe the camera lens with a soft cloth before shooting to avoid glare from streetlights.

⚠️ Warning: At night, the temperature can drop dramatically. If you take a cold phone out of your pocket into a warm room, condensate can form inside the lens. 10-15 temperature-alignment.

Also worth checking is the weather forecast. Clouds are the astrophotographer's biggest enemy. Even a thin layer of clouds can completely hide stars from your Xiaomi lens. Use specialized cloud tracking apps to avoid wasting time on a trip.

Set up a tripod and fixing a smartphone

Getting your smartphone right on a tripod is half the success. The Redmi Note 9 has a glossy back, so press it against the metal parts of the tripod carefully so as not to scratch the body or lens. Use pads or a case if your holder doesn't have silicone pads.

When mounting your phone, make sure that the shutter button or screen is available to touch if you plan to start the timer. However, the best way is to use a delay timer or voice control so you don't touch the device at all when you're shooting.

If you use a homemade device to fix your phone, make sure it doesn't override the microphones and speakers, although it's less critical for photography, and the key is to eliminate any vibration. Wind can also be a problem, so in windy weather, it's better to put a backpack on your tripod.

Use of Night Mode (Night Mode)

The easiest way to get a picture of stars on the Redmi Note 9 is through the built-in Night mode. Xiaomi algorithms are able to glue multiple frames with different exposures, pulling details out of the shadows and removing digital noise.

To activate this mode, open the camera app and select "More" and then "Night" and point the camera at the sky and press the down button, at which point you need to freeze and not breathe on the phone if you hold it in your hands, although with a tripod it is not so critical, and the camera will take a series of pictures and process them.

• 🌌 The Night mode automatically picks up shutter speed, usually 2 to 4 seconds.
• 📸 For a darker sky, you can use the manual mode “Pro”, which will be discussed below.
• 🔍 Use zoom carefully: digital zoom degrades quality, it is better to fry photos later.

Now, if you consider that the standard algorithm can run over stars with noise reduction, and it's considered bright artifacts, if the stars in the photo look like blurry spots or disappear, then the algorithm is too aggressive, and then you should try third-party applications or manual mode.

⚠️ Warning: In Night mode, don't turn on the flash. It will only light up the dust in front of the lens and spoil the frame, making the sky black and the foreground a white spot.

Manual shooting (Pro Mode)

For those who want to get real control, MIUI has Pro mode, which lets you manually set all the sensor settings, and switch to Pro mode through the More menu, and you have to set up three basic parameters here: focus, shutter speed, and ISO.

First, turn the focus into manual mode (mountain icon or MF) and move the slider to infinity. Then point the camera at the brightest star or distant lantern and tweak the focus so that the dot becomes minimal and clear. After that, do not touch the focus again.

Next, adjust the shutter speed (denoted as S or T). To shoot stars on the Redmi Note 9, the optimal value will be from 10 to 30 seconds. The longer the shutter speed, the more light will hit the matrix, but the higher the risk of lubrication due to the rotation of the Earth.

ISO sensitivity should be selected experimentally. Start with 800 or 1600. If the photo is too dark, raise to 3200. Above 3200 on Redmi Note 9 is not recommended to raise, as there will be strong color noises that will spoil the picture.

Optimal Exposure Parameters

Finding a balance between brightness and quality is a key challenge. The smartphone's matrix is limited in dynamic range, so it's important not to overdo it. Below is a table of recommended starting values for different shooting conditions.

Note that the aperture in the smartphone is fixed (usually f/1.8 on the main module of the Redmi Note 9), so we can only change the time of light accumulation and sensitivity. It is critically important not to exceed the shutter speed of 30 seconds without a tracker, otherwise the stars will lubricate due to the rotation of the planet.

If you see a photo that's too noisy after you shoot, try lowering the ISO and making up for that with a small increase in shutter speed if the scene allows. But remember the 30 seconds limit. You can also take a few frames in a row and fold them up in the editor, but that's a challenge for advanced users.

Image processing and improvement

A raw file (RAW) if you shoot in this format, or even a regular JPEG from the phone's camera often requires post-processing.The built-in MIUI editor allows you to base contrast and saturation, but for the starry sky, it's better to use specialized applications.

In the editor, you should work with the Light and Color tools first. You should increase the contrast a little bit to highlight the stars against the black sky. You should add a little bit of saturation with the blue and purple colors if you want to emphasize the color of the night sky.

• 🎚️ Reduce the Noise if the program allows, but don’t overdo it to avoid losing star details.
• 🌡️ Adjust the white balance, making the frame colder if the sky appears yellow from the city light.
• ✂️ Cut the extra edges if the frame got trees or buildings that do not carry artistic value.

💡

Use apps like Snapseed or Lightroom Mobile. Snapseed has a Selective tool that can only brighten stars without touching the dark sky.

Don't be afraid to experiment with filters, but try to keep it natural. The starry sky shouldn't look like an acidic explosion. Your job is to capture the atmosphere of the night you saw with your own eyes.

Frequent mistakes and their solution

Even experienced users sometimes make mistakes that make all the effort impossible. One of the most common is shooting through window glass. Glass reflects light indoors and creates glare that cannot be removed during processing. Always open a window or go outside.

Another mistake is using digital zoom. The Redmi Note 9 doesn't have optical zoom for a telephoto lens, so it's coming close by cropping the matrix, and the quality drops catastrophically. You'd better take a broad plan and then cut it.

⚠️ Warning: Don't take pictures immediately after the camera is turned on. Give the sensor a couple of seconds to autofocus and balance the exposure, even in manual mode, so that the algorithms stabilize.

Many people also forget to turn off HDR manually, which can lead to long shutter speeds that are not working properly. In Pro mode, HDR is usually turned off by default, but it is worth checking the settings.

💡

The main secret of high-quality photo stars on Redmi Note 9 is a combination of rigid fixation (stativa), manual shutter speed settings of about 20 seconds and the absence of light sources in the frame.

If you followed all the instructions, but you still don't like the result, maybe the problem is in the settings. Try to find a place with an even darker sky. Sometimes a difference of a few kilometers from the city gives a radically different result.