Photographing Spiders.................

[wayne balcombe]

hi guys i'm thinking of getting a new camera to improve the quality of the pictures i take of my spiders but i know nothing about cameras really, the pictures i've taken so far are on a fujifilm finepix 8.2mp set to macro but the image quality is mediocre at best.

i've considered getting a digital SLR camera and macro lens with ring flash.

if anyone has experience in this field i'd be grateful for some input.

wayne

[Matthew Bagley]

Get yourself one of those cheap £1 torches , I find it helps focusing under full magnification with my Kodak easyshare on macro . A lot cheaper than getting a totally new set up .

The only reason I'd should need one of those set ups is if I wanted to take pics of a T's eye socket .

[Drew Acton]

hi
iv just spent 2 years studying photography and the best thing i learnt was its expensive. both canon and nikon have got good started slrs out at the mo (i would go with canon my self) but as far as flash and macro goes you dont really need it i just use a 28-135mm standard lens and a 20mm wide angle they work fine and i find that underexposing the image a wee bit gives you great deffinition in the colours or your t's

[Phil Rea]

You should be able to get excellent pictures with the setup you've got, however as Matthew says you'll need fairly good lighting

[lynn mawdesley]

Wouldnt be without my Nikon D60 ...ive took some cracking shots with it which can only be improved as i still havent found the time to sit down properly and mess about with the settings

[wayne balcombe]

thanks for the input guys.

lynn, which lens do you use? do you use a standard lense with macro setting on the camera or do you use a macro lens?

[lynn mawdesley]

I just use the standard lense on macro setting and i bought a +10 universal macro attachment (cheaper option) as i cant afford a proper macro lense lol cost as much as the camera!

[wayne balcombe]

i did notice the price of the macro lense, its almost double the price of the camera.........................

i think that may be an option for me to consider then.............. thanks lynn

[Ray Hale]

Nikon D60 is excellent. I find using the +2, + 4 and +10 is a cheaper option than designated macro lens. I also recommend the use of tripod when using lens attachments. The problem with + 10 is you will need a fair amount of light on your subject.

Ray

[wayne balcombe]

cheers ray, i generally dont like using a flash when photographing my spiders unless absolutely no other alternative so what would be the best type of lighting for clear, colourful, detailed pictures?

[lynn mawdesley]

These are the latest shots ive took of my new girlie just set on automatic at 55mm (no macro or + lenses) as i said there is room for improvement lol

[lynn mawdesley]

[Richard Gallon]

The cheapest and best light for photographing tarantulas is the sun diffused through light cloud. Photograph your tarantula outside in these conditions and your photos will improve considerably and your wallet stays firmly shut

Direct bright sunlight isn't good because the shadows created under the spider are too harsh, particularly at this time of year.

Lighting, positioning the spider and composition are far more important than big money kit in getting a good tarantula picture.

DSLR + macro lens = tripod + high f# + longer exposure time for good depth of field. In other words you probably won't be able to hand hold your DSLR + macro lens unless you are happy with blurry legs or have a flash with the power of the sun

The macro settings on DSLR's aren't good for taking tarantula photos, they seem to be designed for objects like flowers with a limited depth of field. You'll need to play with aperture priority settings.

Supplementary magnification filters will reduce image quality slightly (extra glass to go through), but will allow you to use your kit DSLR lens and hand hold it, and they are relatively cheap.

Richard

[Stephen jordan]

I use a secondhand 2003 Fujifilm compact dslr, I photograph wildlife, mostly insects and spiders in the woods by my home and never had any trouble and got some great shots for my web page...managed to catch a Robber fly taking down a Hoverfly and feeding, Cucumber spiders, Orb spiders etc. Standard macro and super macro settings were more than enough, I did buy some magnification filters but they reduce picture quality quite a lot so I opted for patience and stealth instead, natural light I agree is the best light to take pictures in. £50 from ebay a year ago and it's one of the best buys ever, Fujifilm s602zoom it does it all!

[Drew Acton]

cheers ray, i generally dont like using a flash when photographing my spiders unless absolutely no other alternative so what would be the best type of lighting for clear, colourful, detailed pictures?

if you but a thin piece of tissue paper over the flash it will defuse the light givving the same effect as defused sunlight