How to take pictures of stars on Xiaomi phone: a complete guide with settings and life hacks

Contents

• Why Xiaomi is a Good Approach for Astrophotography
• Preparation: What you need to shoot stars
• Manual camera mode: key parameters
• Top.-5 Apps for shooting stars on Xiaomi
• Optimal settings for different Xiaomi models
• Photo processing: how to improve the frame
• Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
• FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions

Photographing stars on a smartphone is not an easy task, but Xiaomi owners have a serious advantage. Modern flagships of the brand (for example, Xiaomi 13 Ultra or Redmi Note 12 Pro+) are equipped with cameras with large matrices, support for manual Pro Mode and the ability to long shutter speed. Even budget models like the Poco X5 are able to capture the light of distant galaxies with the right settings.

The key to success is the combination of the phone’s technical capabilities and knowledge of astrophotography. You don’t need professional equipment: enough tripod (or stable surface), dark sky and 10-15 minutes to experiment. In this article, we will analyze the unique features of Xiaomi’s camera that are rarely mentioned in general guides, such as how to bypass the shutter speed limit of 32 seconds or use Starry Sky mode on new MIUI firmware.

Important: the results will depend heavily on your Xiaomi model. If you have a phone with a primary camera less than 48 MP (like a Redmi 9A), focus on the moon or bright planets – the Milky Way will require more advanced optics.

Preparation: What you need to shoot stars

Before you pick up the phone, check out 4 key conditions:

• 🌌 Dark Sky: shooting in a city with high light is meaningless. Use light pollution maps (for example, Light Pollution Map) - a Bortle 3-4 is perfect for a place with a Bortle indicator.
• 📱 Battery charge: Long exposure and cold quickly put the battery down. Charge the phone 100% and take the power bank.
• 🌡️ Temperature: in the cold below -5°C camera matrix can start making noise. If you shoot in winter, warm up your phone in your pocket before you start.
• 🔭 Focus: Autofocus often misses at night. Switch to manual focus (on how to do this in the next section).

Equipment:

• 📸 Tripod: even micro-movement of the hands will ruin the frame. Any book, even a homemade one, will do. For Xiaomi with MagSafe magnetic system (for example, Mix Fold 3), you can use magnetic holders.
• 🔋 Remote or timer: to avoid shaking when you press the down button. In extreme cases, use a delay of 2–3 seconds.
• 🌑 Light filter (optional): if shooting near the lights, stick a piece on the lens ND-filter (sold for smartphones).

⚠️ Note: Don't use zoom when shooting stars! Digital zoom on Xiaomi (except models with optical zoom like Xiaomi) 13T Pro) will only worsen the quality of the film, and the film is being shot on the main camera with a focal length of 24-27 mm.

Manual camera mode: key parameters

The main star shooting tool on Xiaomi is Pro Mode (or Manual in Russian firmware), find it in the standard Camera app or install Google Camera (GCam) with Astrophotography support (more on this in the app section).

The best settings to start with:

How to set the focus:

1. Open Pro Mode and tap on the screen to allow a focus slider to appear.
2. Move the slider to the right to the stop (the icon ∞).
3. Take a test shot: if the stars are blurred, slightly move the slider to the left (~0.1-0.3 mm from the edge).

⚠️ Note: Some Xiaomi models (such as the Redmi Note 11) don't have a focus slider in manual mode.Solution: install GCam or use the Manual Camera app from Google Play.

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Top.-5 Apps for shooting stars on Xiaomi

The standard MIUI camera is limited in functionality. For serious astrophotography, install one of these applications:

1. Google Camera (GCam) with Astrophotography Mod: 🔹 It works on most Xiaomi chipsets (except the newest ones). 🔹 Automatically folds several frames to reduce noise. 🔹 Download versions from BSG Wichaya (for Snapdragon) and Shamim (for Mediatek).
2. Manual Camera (from Manual Apps): 🔹 Supports shutter speeds up to 60 seconds (on some models). 🔹 There is a histogram for fine-tuning the exposure.
3. NightCap Camera: 🔹 Stars Mode with Automatic Addition. 🔹 It works on Xiaomi with Qualcomm chipsets.
4. AstroCamera: 🔹 Specialized in the shooting of the Milky Way. 🔹 Requires a rooted phone for full functionality.

Open Camera

• 🔹 Free and no advertising.
• 🔹 Supports RAW manually adjust all parameters.

💡

If the camera gives an error "Device not supported" after installing the GCam, try the version with the patch. XML For your model, look for instructions on the forum. XDA Developers (partition of your phone).

Optimal settings for different Xiaomi models

Each Xiaomi model has its own nuances when shooting stars, and below are the verified settings for popular devices:

For models with a Mediatek chipset (e.g. Redmi Note 11):

• 🔹 GCam is not stable – use the Manual Camera or Open Camera.
• 🔹 Exposure of more than 10 seconds can cause overheating. Take a series of frames of 10 seconds and glue them into StarStaX.

For models with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (e.g. Xiaomi 13):

• 🔹 Turn it on. AI Scene Detection in Camera Settings – Algorithm Will Help Reduce Noise.
• 🔹 Use it. HEIF instead JPEG save more detail.
• StarStaX (for PC): 🔹 Glue together a few frames (10–20 one in order to reduce noise. 🔹 Select Lighten for stars or Gap Filling for the Milky Way: 1. Open up. RAW-file. 2. In the section "Light": - Exposition: +1.8 - Contrast: +35 - Light: +15 - Shadows: -25 - Black: -10 3. In the section "Color": - Temperature: 3900K - The shade: +5 (green-noise) 4. In the section "Details": - Sharpness: +40 (mask 60) - Noise suppression: 30 (coloured 50) 5. Export in JPEG quality 100%. ⚠️ Warning: Don't overdo it with Brightness and Contrast, it'll make noise. If stars start to look like colored pixels, reduce the noise. ISO When shooting or use Noise Reduction in Topaz Denoise (paid but effective). 💡Shooting in RAW and the subsequent processing gives 30–50% better result than JPEG straight from the phone. Xiaomi’s budget models like the Redmi Note 10 They can show decent results with proper post-processing. Typical errors and how to avoid them 1: Shooting in cloudy or high humidity, vapor and water droplets on the lens blur the image, check the weather ahead on Clear Dark Sky, if you shoot in winter, breathe on the lens before you start, so it doesn't fog. Mistake 2: Use of digital zoom. any magnification other than optical (available only on Xiaomi) 13 Ultra and 12S Ultra leads to loss of quality. If you want to get closer to the moon, shoot a video in the video. 4K And then you can do the post-processing crop. 3: Wrong white balance. Automatic white balance (AWB) It's yellow or green at night. Always set it. 3500–4000K manually or choose a preset incandescent lamp. 4: Shooting without a tripod, even when you're holding it. 1/4 A second of hand trembling will ruin the frame. Alternatives to tripod: 🪨 Place your phone on a flat surface (such as the hood of a car). 🧊 Use a bag of rice or sand as an improvised stand. 🧲 Attach your phone with a magnet to a metal surface (suitable for MagSafe models). Error 5: Ignoring the phase of the moon. When the moon is full, the light of the moon clogs up stars. To shoot the Milky Way, choose the days around the new moon. Check the moon calendar on MoonCalc. 💡If you see strange bands or gradients in your images, it's light pollution. Solution: Take some dark frames and subtract them to StarStaX or DeepSkyStacker (for PC). FAQ: Can you photograph stars on Xiaomi without a tripod? Technically, but the result will be blurry. Maximum exposure without tripod — 1/4 squash ISO 6400+, But these are only useful for the moon or the bright planets (like Venus). In the Milky Way, a tripod is a must. Why do you see stars in green or purple? This is a chromatic aberration, a lens defect that gets worse when you're high. ISO. Solutions: Take it down ISO before 1600–2000. In Lightroom, use the tool Eliminate chromatic aberrations (Optics section). On new Xiaomi models (e.g., the new ones, 14 Pro: turn on AI Lens Flare Removal in camera settings. What settings are suitable for shooting meteor showers? For meteors you need a serial shoot with short exposure: Shutter speed: 5–10 sack. ISO: 3200–6400. Focus: Infinity. Format: JPEG (So you don't have to get your memory down: 1 sack. Later, combine the frames into a timelapse in StarStaX (mode Startrails). Why does Xiaomi 13 Ultra not have Starry Sky mode? This mode is only available on Chinese firmware MIUI Solutions: Install GCam with Astrophotography Mode (versions from BSG Or Wichaya. Fly the phone to Chinese firmware (risky, requires unlocking the bootloader). Use manual mode with settings: shutter speed 20 seconds, ISO 2500, focus. ∞. Can I shoot stars on older Xiaomi models (for example, Redmi 5 or Mi)? A2)? Yes, but with reservations: 🔹 Maximum exposure: 4-8 seconds (iron restriction). 🔹 ISO 1600 will make an unbearable noise. 🔹 Only bright objects can be photographed: the Moon, Jupiter, Venus. 🔹 Use Open Camera or Manual Camera – the standard camera won’t give you manual settings. For the Milky Way, such phones are not suitable.