I've attempted multiple times to capture the full or near-full moon using the following gear:
- Tripod
- Canon EOS R5
- Canon RF-EF adapter
- Sigma 1.4x TC
- Sigma Contemporary 150-600mm f/5.0-6.3 DG OS HSM lens
The Sigma 150-600mm C should give you acceptable results but there's some disagreement with sharpness with this lens. It may or may not be subject to copy-to-copy variation although I haven't had this confirmed. The teleconverter with the 150-600mm lens is said to be known to produce softer images so be wary of this. It may NOT be an issue with your setup.
Also note:
- I was in manual focus on the moon, which seemed to focus just fine in the moment
- I had lens OS (Optical Stability) off, but still had the camera's IBIS system on
- I was shooting in RAW mode
- I was at the max zoom of the lens, which realistically means I had a focal length of 840mm
- I was using the Canon "Camera Connect" app on my iPhone 12 Pro to do live shooting
- I was still using the old 1.5.1 Canon firmware at the time (I don't believe that matters much)
- The Sigma lens firmware was verified as up to date
It looks like all is well. I can't see any issues with your equipment or decisions.
I usually crop my images of the moon to fill the full frame, and I figured by using this stackup my images would be even sharper, given the much higher megapixel count of the R5 compared to my old 6D MkII and due to the longer reach of the lens using the teleconverter. Understand that the TC brings the new min f-stop to f/9, but that's more than enough for a full or near full moon.
Full Frame cameras can be quite 'distant' when photographing the moon because there's no internal crop of the image circle like there is with APS-C camera. You have some alternatives though and the EOS R5 can crop tighter due to the sensor crowding. The best thing about Full Moons is that you have plenty of light to work with. Crescent Moons can be much harder because there's a lot less light involved.
.
It's very hard to comment without seeing examples of what you are unhappy with. But your focal length ought to be fine. The lens should be fine. Shooting in RAW means you need to edit your images to reveal the details and apply sharpening or curves etc as effectively as possible. I'm a JPEG shooter so I let the camera handle the basics whilst I tend to edit my images afterwards. I ensure that my settings aren't too aggressive (like sharpening) and that leaves me with plenty of room to tweak the images afterwards.
.
I'd probably pass on using iPhone software to nail the Auto Focus. It would be less problematic to manually focus your lens (or Auto-Focus the lens) and then lock off the focus by switching to Manual (MF) focus. Use your phone to take the pictures if you want to but be sure to lock focus using the camera/lens.
.
Stacking images is becoming popular these days. This method can reduce noise whilst adding more dynamic range but they can sometimes result in over-worked and oversharpened images. If think that most people who stack lunar images tend to be stacking high resolution video frames. This gives them a lot of data to extract from. I haven't bothered with stacking at this point though. You could also consider I.A. software to increase existing resolution. I've not used it for Astro but I do use Gigapixel A.I. (from Topaz Labs) to upscale my images occasionally. It's phenomenal for landscapes. Again, I'd consider using it with RAW images and Gigapixel A.I. has a RAW mode template.
Unfortunately, when I zoom in and crop the images, the moon still looks a bit blurry, especially when compared to images taken using the same method and same lens on my old DSLR but with no TC. Even when trying to sharpen them in post-processing they still don't look very good. To reiterate, there didn't appear to be any issue manually focusing on the moon in real time.
Does anyone know what I may be doing wrong? Do I need to turn IBIS off on the camera itself? Is it the remote shooting from my phone that's the problem?
I'd leave the IBIS alone since it hasn't affected my own shots and I think it only kicks in when movement of the camera is in play. Focusing on a partial moon is easy enough. My method with a partial moon is to focus on the cratered areas. I find that this helps me lock focus accurately. I'll even use the moon as a focus-locking-target for photographing stars, planets or even high aircraft or the International Space Station (ISS) prior to it flying overhead. But a Full Moon can be more of a challenge because now you lose all the crater details in the shadows so you use the EDGE of the Moon as your focus target. I've been doing it this way for years without any problems. The method is quite reliable. No shadow on the moon means it will always look softer and without much detail. It's better to photograph it with some shadow if you want to be viewing craters etc.
.
400mm lens + 2x Extender (800mm) - Full Frame compared to APS-C
EOS R6 + EF 100-400mmL II + EF 2x III Extender.* Note the area I've chosen to lock focus on. The region where the lunar crater details are sharp and clear. If the moon is full, I'll use the edge of the rim of the Moon for AF lock.
.
For Image Stabilization, it hasn't been an issue for me to leave it on or turn it off. With lens stabilization (OIS) I tend to turn it off whenever I remember to do so. With a conventional tripod I sometimes leave it on. IBIS appears to be reactive so I haven't bothered to look at deactivating it.
.
Some planning helps with lunar photography. And different focal lengths can produce some wonderful results. If you want a large moon in the frame, you'll want to be using Extenders with longer lenses. A 400mm lens on a Full Frame sensor is still quite small.
.
EOS R6 + RF 85mm f/1.2L USM lens
EOS R6 + EF 100-400mmL II lens (at 100mm)
EOS R6 + EF 100-400mmL II lens (at 400mm)
EOS R6 + EF 100-400mmL II lanes (at 400mm + EF 2x III Extender) * Supermoon Rising - slightly cropped due to a tree that was in the foreground. There was a lot of smoke in the air on this occasions due to backburning in preparation for summer bushfire seasons. The lower half of the moon is partly occluded by the heavy smoke in the air.
EOS M6 + EF 100-400mmL II lens + EF 2x III Extender. (APS-C)* 2021 Lunar Eclipse (Moon Phases, including Supermoon-rise)
EOS M6 + EF 100-400mmL + EF 2x III Extender * Saturn approaching the Moon (cropped)
EOS M6 (APS-C) + EF 100-400mmL II + EF 1.4x III + EF 2x III Extenders* Handheld and cropped by more than 50%
EOS M (APS-C) + EF 100-400mmL II + EF 2x III Extender* Cropped ** Shot in the late afternoon, hence the blue sky.
.
Considering APS-C?
With Lunar Photography, a LOT of photographers prefer to shoot with APS-C unless other factors are in play. With Canon APS-C cameras you get an additional 1.61x due to the crop. That crop has no additional glass involved so image integrity is unaffected. Add an extender to the mix and you can get quite close to the moon. If you're interesting in lunar photography and you have any EF mount lenses, consider an EOS M camera with an EF-M-to-EF lens adapter.
.
Prime Photography with Scopes
Another thing you may consider is using either a telescope or a spotting scope instead of a lens (if you want to get closer to the moon). Canon recently patented an RF lens of a type that's known as a catadioptric lens. It's an old design and it's a design used on some telescopes to gain strong magnification. Whilst nobody knows when this new RF lens will arrive or even if it will be made commercially available. But you can get very strong magnification by using your camera with a Maksutov-type spotting scope... which can offer you well over 2,000mm of focal length or more. The scope essentially becomes a Prime Lens. If lunar photography is an interest and you feel you need even more magnification than you presently have, then this is an option. Apertures on these types of scopes tend to be between f/10-f14 so make a note of that. You may prefer the extra light from your lens.
.
The best time to photograph the moon is when it's higher in the sky. If you shoot it closer to the horizon then you're shooting through more of the atmosphere and this will soften the details. Hence moonrise and moonset shots tend to show little detail or contrast.
--
Regards,
Marco Nero.
