Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra shoots for the moon and succeeds thanks to its 50 MP Samsung ISOCELL GN2 sensor

The moon is a very photogenic body but can be extremely shy when it comes to taking a snapshot with a regular – or even flagship – smartphone. There have been some excellent results produced in the past, with the Huawei P30 Pro delivering a more-than-decent example. But Xiaomi has trumped that effort thanks to a potent combination of the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra, MIUI 12, and the 50 MP Samsung ISOCELL GN2 sensor.

The general manager of Xiaomi Indonesia, Alvin Tse, posted the moon shot, which is incredibly detailed. Obviously, this wasn’t a case of someone just holding up a Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra and taking a lucky snap of the satellite, and there would likely have been some professional expertise and equipment involved. But as can be seen in the image, distinct craters can be made out and the lunar maria (the dark patches or “seas”) are clearly visible without suffering from a huge amount of edge blurring.

The main lens in the Mi 11 Ultra is the aforementioned ISOCELL GN2, which Samsung announced in February. Its Smart ISO Pro technology raises “light sensitivity close to one-million ISOs”, making it ideal for this type of lunar photography. Xiaomi’s MIUI 12 skin also comes with a handy SuperMoon mode that is available in certain models such as the Mi 11 Ultra and Mi 11, and it is accessible via the camera’s settings.

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