How to take a picture of the night sky on Xiaomi: from settings to post-processing

Modern smartphones, especially Xiaomi’s flagship models, are equipped with sensors that would have seemed like science fiction a few years ago. Being able to capture the Milky Way or just beautiful stars no longer requires buying an expensive SLR camera and open-aperture lenses. But automatic mode often fails to cope with the lack of light, giving blurry spots instead of clear constellations, which is why manual tuning is the key to successful astrophotography.

In this article, we will take a look at how to turn your smartphone into a powerful space-filming tool. You will learn exactly what parameters you need to change in the Camera app, why nothing will work without a tripod, and how to avoid common mistakes that negate all efforts. Xiaomi offers flexible tools in standard software that, when used correctly, give amazing results.

While you might not expect the first shot to be perfect, understanding the physical processes of shooting will greatly speed up the learning process. Below are the specific steps and technical nuances that will help you get images worthy of desktop wallpaper or social media posting.

Selection of location and preparation of equipment

The first thing to understand is that light pollution is the night photographer's main enemy. Even the best Xiaomi sensor can't get through the layer of urban light that turns the sky into a uniform gray veil. To shoot stars, you need to move away from large artificial light sources such as street lights, billboards and illuminated building windows.

Stabilization is the second critical success factor. Any, even microscopic hand tremor during long exposure will lead to image lubrication. A tripod is a prerequisite for quality work. If you don't have a professional tripod, you can point your phone at a fixed object: a stone, a parapet or a sandbag, but rigid fixation is required.

Be sure to check your battery power before you go to the location. Night photography, especially with the screen on and active focus, consumes a significant amount of energy. Cold air outside can further accelerate the discharge of lithium polymer batteries used in Redmi and Poco smartphones.

• 🌌 Choose places away from city lights where the horizon is visible.
• 📱 Bring an external battery with you (Power Bank).
• 🛡️ Use windscreen for your smartphone if shooting is in open areas.

⚠️ Warning: Don't try to stabilize the phone by holding it in your hands and leaning your elbows against a hard surface. Microvibrations from breathing and heartbeat will still result in a long exposure marriage.

Setting up the “Profi” mode in the Camera application

The standard automatic mode ("Photo" or "Night Mode") often attempts to artificially brighten the frame, creating digital noise and losing star detail. For astrophotography on Xiaomi, you need to switch to Pro (or Pro) mode. This is where you get full control of exposure, focus and white balance.

The first thing you do is turn off automatic focus, point the camera at the brightest star or the remote flashlight, switch the focus to manual mode (MF), and move the slider to infinity. Often there's a mountain or infinity symbol on the focus scale, which is your target point, and then don't touch the focus, otherwise you'll have to adjust it again.

The most important parameter is shutter speed. To shoot a starry sky without tracks (blurring stars due to the rotation of the Earth), the rule is 500. Divide 500 by the focal length of your lens (the equivalent of 35 mm). For a wide angle of a smartphone (usually about 13-14 mm), the shutter speed can be 20-25 seconds. If you put more, the stars will turn into dashes.

Parameter ISO (light sensitivity) should be selected experimentally, starting with the values 800-1600. Too high. ISO (for example, 3200 On mobile sensors, often there is colored noise that is difficult to remove when processed (WB) It is better to set it manually in the range 3500-4500 Kelvins, so that the sky has a natural cold hue, and not go into yellowness.

Use the RAW format for maximum quality

To get a truly professional result, the standard JPEG format is not suitable, since it compresses the image, losing color information and details in the shadows. In the Xiaomi camera settings (cog icon or three stripes in the corner), you need to activate saving in RAW format. This can be called JPEG+RAW or simply RAW.

The RAW files contain raw data directly from the sensor array, which looks faded and gray immediately after shooting, but contain a huge dynamic range, which allows for post-processing to pull out the details from the darkest areas of the sky and remove the lights from bright stars without the appearance of compression artifacts.

The volume of such files is much larger than ordinary photos. One snapshot in RAW can take up 20-40 MB of memory, so before a photo shoot, make sure that you have enough free space on an internal drive or memory card. Processing such files requires the use of specialized applications such as Lightroom Mobile or Snapseed.

• 📂 Files. RAW occupy 5-10 more space than JPEG.
• 🎨 RAW Allows you to adjust the white balance after shooting without loss of quality.
• 💻 For conversion RAW need special programs on a PC or smartphone.

⚠️ Note: When shooting in RAW Auto-correction of noise and sharpness in the camera turns off. Don't be afraid if the picture on the phone screen seems too noisy or soft - everything is corrected when developing.

Comparison of camera capabilities of different Xiaomi models

Not all Xiaomi smartphones are equally good at night shooting, the result depends on the size of the matrix, the aperture of the lens and the quality of the image processing algorithms (ISP). Flagship models usually have more aperture optics, which allows you to lower ISO.

The table below compares the key characteristics that affect astrophotography quality across product lines. Note that optical stabilization (OIS) also plays a role, although it is often recommended to switch it off software when shooting from a tripod so that there is no floating.

Budget-based owners can also do well if they put the exposure right. The main limitation of cheap sensors is that color noise rises rapidly as the ISO goes up. It is critical for them not to pick up the sensitivity above 800 units, offsetting it with longer exposure time if the plot allows (static stars).

Post-processing: turning the picture into a masterpiece

Shooting in night mode is only half the job. A raw file requires processing. Upload the picture to Lightroom Mobile (the free version is enough for basic functions). First of all, use the Contrast and Blacks slider to make the sky deep and black, removing the gray haze of the illumination.

Next, work with color. HSL (Hue, Saturation, Luminance) allows you to selectively change the saturation of individual colors. You can make stars brighter by adding saturation to the yellow and orange channels, or highlight nebulae by working with the blue and purple spectrum. Be careful not to oversaturate the image to unnatural acidic shades.

An important step is noise cancellation. In the Detail section, find the Noise Reduction and Color Noise sliders. Smoothly zoom in until the noise is invisible, but make sure the stars don't turn into soap and lose their shape. The perfect balance is achieved when the background is clear and the stars remain spot-on.

• 📉 Reduce the “highlights” to bring back details in the brightest stars.
• 🌡️ Adjust the temperature so the sky doesn’t look too warm.
• 🔍 Increase the clarity carefully so as not to increase the noise.

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Use the “Cloak” feature in Lightroom to apply noise cancellation only to the sky, leaving the foreground (trees, mountains) sharper and more detailed.

Common Errors and How to Resolve Them

One of the most common mistakes is using digital zoom. When shooting on your phone, never use finger zooming ("pinch"). It just cuts off the center of the matrix and interpolates the image, which dramatically reduces quality and increases noise. If you need framing, you better shoot wide, and then crop the photo during processing.

The second mistake is to have the timer ignite. Pressing the shutter button with your finger causes the body to vibrate. Even on a tripod, this can lubricate the frame. Always set a delay timer for 2-5 seconds or use the voice control/volume buttons to lower the shutter without touching the screen.

The third problem is condensation. When you leave the warm room and get out into the cold air, the lens can instantly produce dew, wipe the camera before you start shooting, and let the smartphone lie in its case for a couple of minutes so that it slowly takes the street temperature, and also watch for fogging of the lens during the long shooting.

⚠️ Note: In the "Profi" mode on some versions MIUI And HyperOS can be incorrect when getting stuck over very dark skies. Focus on the histogram, not how bright the picture looks on the phone screen.

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The quality of a night shot depends on 70% of the camera’s lack of shaking and proper focus, and only 30% of the sensor’s capabilities.