Xiaomi and Redmi smartphones today have powerful cameras that capture moments that the human eye often fails to notice. Serial photography is an indispensable tool for photographing moving objects, children, pets or sports events. Instead of taking one shot and hoping for luck, you get a series of photos from which you can always choose the best moment when the object is in perfect focus and composition.
However, many users have difficulty trying to activate this mode, as the operating algorithms may differ from MIUI to the new HyperOS. Sometimes the function is hidden behind a long press, other times the resolution settings need to be changed. In this article, we will discuss in detail all the ways to activate, adjust quality and solve problems that you may encounter when creating serial images on Xiaomi devices.
It is important to understand that the quality of the final photos depends on the selected parameters before the process begins. If you want to get the most detailed frames for later printing or crop, you will have to sacrifice processing speed or frames per second. The maximum speed of serial shooting on Xiaomi is achieved only when using a resolution of 12 MP or lower, since the 50 MP and 108 MP modes limit frame rates due to the volume of data processed.
The main method of activation through long pressing
The most common and quick way to take a series of pictures on Xiaomi smartphones is to use the standard long-press gesture. In the standard mode of Photo or Video, you do not need to switch to special menus. Just point the camera at the object and hold your finger on the shutter button. The camera will take pictures continuously as long as you hold your finger on the screen.
Once you release the button, the system will prompt you to choose the best frames from the series or save everything at once.This method works by default on most models, including the Xiaomi 13, Redmi Note 12 and older devices. However, if (long press) leads to recording video instead of a series of photos, you need to check the camera settings, as priority actions may have been changed in system updates.
To change the priority of the buttons, go to the camera settings menu. Find the section that controls the behavior of the down button. Here you can choose what will happen with a short press and what will happen with a long press. Make sure that the Burst shot option is chosen for a long press, not Video or AI Cam.
⚠️ Note: When using high resolution mode (50 MP, 108 MP, 200 MP), the serial shooting function may not be available or operate at very low speed. For fast series, always switch to standard 12 MP resolution.
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Use a tripod or elbow against a hard surface during prolonged serial shooting to avoid lubrication of frames due to hand tremors, which are enhanced with a long hold of the smartphone.
Setting resolution and shooting speed
The quality and speed of the serial shooting are inversely dependent on each other. The higher the resolution of the matrix you choose, the more time it takes the image processor (ISP) to process each frame. This leads to a decrease in the number of photos per second. For shooting fast-moving objects, such as a running child or a bird in flight, it is critical to find the right balance between detail and speed.
In the camera settings menu, you can find "Imagine Size" or "Enterprise Ratio." The standard value for most scenarios is 4:3 at 12MP. This is the mode in which the camera delivers maximum performance. If you turn on "50MP" or "Hi-Res" mode, the phone will go into frame-by-frame mode, where each tap makes one heavy file, making the serial mode almost useless for the speaker.
Also worth paying attention to the format of saving. HEIF (or HEIC) format allows you to save space on the disk while maintaining high quality, but when processing a series of dozens of frames in this format, the phone can heat up more. JPG format is more versatile and faster processed by a memory buffer in serial shooting.
Use of Pro mode for manual control
For photographers who want full control of exposure during the series, Pro is designed in Manual, which allows you to capture focus, shutter speed and ISO so that the camera doesn’t try to adjust between frames in the series, which is especially important when shooting in contrast lighting, where automation can walk in brightness from frame to frame.
To activate the Pro series, first set all settings manually. Set the shutter speed short enough to freeze motion, such as 1/500 or 1/1000 of a second. Then just use the long-press method of the downhill button. Unlike the automatic mode, here the series will consist of frames with identical exposure settings, which makes further processing easier.
It is worth noting that in Pro mode, the memory buffer can fill up faster if you shoot in RAW format. RAW files contain raw data from the matrix and weigh 5-10 times more than JPG. If you plan a long series, it is better to switch to the JPG format or use RAW only for single, key frames.
Why is the series shorter in Pro mode?
Specifics of work in the mode of Portrait and Night
Portrait and Night modes use complex computational photo algorithms, combining multiple frames to create a background blur or brighten. In these modes, classic serial shooting is often disabled or not working correctly. Trying to do a series in Night mode will result in the phone taking one long shutter speed photo after another, which is ineffective for dynamics.
In Portrait mode, the camera builds a depth map. When an object or camera moves sharply between frames in the series, the algorithm may not have time to recalculate the depth, which will lead to artifacts around the object. If you need to shoot a series of portraits of a moving person, you better switch to normal Photo mode and use zoom or framing, sacrificing software blur for speed and clarity.
However, on the new flagships Xiaomi with processors Snapdragon 8 Gen series algorithms have become faster. In some cases, with good lighting mode "Portrait" allows you to make short series (2-3 frames), but rely on a long queue of pictures is not worth it. For shooting children in motion "Portrait" is better to replace the usual mode with the subsequent imposition of effects in the gallery.
| Camera mode | Support for series | Speed (roughly) | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photo (12 MP) | Complete. | High (10-20 k/s) | Perfect for sports and children |
| Photo (50+MP) | Limited. | Low (1-3 k/s) | Static only. |
| Portrait | Partial | Medium | For posing, not for running. |
| Night. | No. | Very low. | Not to be used for series |
Search and selection of the best staff in the Gallery
Once the series is done, the question is, where do you look for these photos and how do you view them? In the standard Xiaomi gallery, the series is displayed as a single file with a small layer icon or a number in the corner. By clicking on this preview, you get inside the series. Here you can scroll through all the frames, select the best ones and delete the blurred ones.
MIUI often offers Recommended Photos, where AI itself marks the frames with an asterisk, where all eyes are open and the subject is in focus, which greatly speeds up the selection process. You can select a few of the frames you like and click on Save to bring them out of the series into the shared feed as individual photos.
Deleting a series is similar to deleting a single photo, but be careful: if you just click “Delete” on the preview of the series, all the frames inside the series will be erased. If you want to leave only 2-3 successful frames, first enter the series, select the ones you want, save them, and then delete the original file of the series so as not to occupy the space in duplicates.
☑️ Checking before shooting the series
Problem Solving and Frequently Asked Questions
Sometimes users are faced with a situation where the serial shooting simply does not work: the phone takes one picture and stops, or the recording is interrupted, most often due to a lack of free RAM or overflow of the recording buffer on flash memory. Close the background applications before an important shooting.
Another reason could be that the device is overheated: When you shoot for long periods of time in 4K or when you use a flash, the processor heats up, and the system artificially limits the performance of the camera to prevent damage to the components.
If the problem persists after the reboot, try clearing the Camera app cache. Go to Settings → Apps → All Apps → Camera → Memory → Clear the cache. This action will not delete your settings and photos, but will reset temporary files that may have caused the shooting algorithms to fail.
⚠️ Note: Using third-party apps from Google Play to shoot on Xiaomi often leads to unstable work, as they do not have access to full camera drivers, unlike the regular app.
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For stable operation of serial shooting it is critically important to use the internal memory of the phone, and not a microSD memory card, since the recording speed is not very fast. SD-Maps are often insufficient for the flow of high-quality images.