dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

I have been wondering why I never seem to see the spiders shown on the UHH in the Macro section. A couple of days ago I saw a spider inside a Cally Lilly flower and took a couple of photos of it. They came out alright but nothing to speak highly about.

Today while photographing that flower I saw the same spider and photographed it again. While doing some PP work I happened to have it blown up to sharpen the photo and noticed the 4 eyes across the face. Then it hit me. This is a type of spider I never see.

I am attaching 4 photos, two are normal size that I am sure are 1:1 size and two are cropped to see it. Are all of these spiders tiny little things approximately 1/4 inch or less? When I see photos from others and the spider looks frame filling are they using the same 1:1 lens I have or are they doing something more so the spider fills the frame without cropping. I am using a D800 on a tripod and a Nikon 105 f2.8 Macro lens.

Will my Nikon M2 extension tube work on my 105 to get bigger than 1:1 ratio?
Sorry about all of the questions but now I am all fired up to do better.

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Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Neat shots! I've actually seen quite a few jumping spiders on UHH - a couple of folks have mentioned the spiders will jump on their camera lens when they see their reflection. I think they are just adorable :)

From Wikipedia:
The jumping spider family (Salticidae) contains more than 500 described genera and about 5,000 described species, making it the largest family of spiders with about 13% of all species. Jumping spiders have some of the best vision among arthropods and use it in courtship, hunting, and navigation. Although they normally move unobtrusively and fairly slowly, most species are capable of very agile jumps, notably when hunting, but sometimes in response to sudden threats. Both their book lungs and the tracheal system are well-developed, and they use both systems (bimodal breathing). Jumping spiders are generally recognized by their eye pattern. All jumping spiders have four pairs of eyes with one pair being their particularly large anterior median eyes.

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

Many, if not most, Jumping spiders are 1/4-inch or smaller, even as adults. Most other spider types are larger as adults.

Your M2 extension tube is 27.5-mm, and strictly manual. I would strongly suggest that you consider a full set (12-mm, 20-mm, & 36-mm) of auto-extension tubes, so you can retain auto-aperture and auto-focus.

Kenko DG auto-extension tube set

Macronaut Loc: Redondo Beach,Ca.

These are good shots. Using the plant as a reference, I'd guess this jumper is an 1/8" or less. Now you know what to look for :wink:

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Thanks so much, Linda, for looking at my photos and the nice comments. I appreciate the information on the spiders as well.
I have seen lots of these spiders on UHH also but just didn't have any idea how tiny they were. I thought they were at least 1/2 inch long and fuzzy. NOT.
I now know I will need to expand my equipment next payday with a flash diffuser and a set of extension tubes.
Thanks again

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Thanks for the information and for looking at my photos. I will take your advice of the Kenko extension tubes and the flash diffuser (in another post). I use a Nikon SB900 flash and like it but I find that it simply can't get the flash down right in front of the lens where it should be for macro.

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Thanks so much. I will be looking more from now on.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Check the variety of approaches in the set-ups thread on this forum (especially pages 4 & 5): http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-32754-4.html

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Thanks for the information. I appreciate it. I will look into these products.