First time with extension tubes and spiders

ziggy©

ziggy©

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Name
Dini
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I have had my 100mm f2.8 non macro for quite a while but never really used it. I have used it for butterflies but never for real macro. I recently bought some extension tubes to try and get those amazing shots of jumping spiders i have seen on flickr and other sites. I went out this morning looking for spiders and found one. I don't know what spider this is and i don't even know if it is a jumping spider. I dont think it is because the eyes are not big enough (is it?).

I took hundreds of shots and i think only these two are probably ok. I was surprised at the number of shots i thought looked good on the LCD but were rubish when i looked at them on the PC monitor. The tripod proved to be useless as it was so difficult to keep pace with the spider with the camera on the tripod.

Anyway what do you guys think?

Both images taken with the 100mm f2.8 Non IS + full set of Kenko extension tubes

IMG_2389-Edit.jpg


IMG_2399-Edit.jpg
 
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Looks like a garden orb spider to me. They look a tad over exposed to me. The cross on the back looks blown out on my monitor. What lighting did you use? Good shots though.

I never use a tripod for insect macro. Not a hope of most of them standing still.
 
nice shots ziggy, but as above you need to diffuse your lighting, and ditch the tripod and just rock back and forth with the camera.
 
Mike Jackson said:
Looks like a garden orb spider to me. They look a tad over exposed to me. The cross on the back looks blown out on my monitor. What lighting did you use? Good shots though.

I never use a tripod for insect macro. Not a hope of most of them standing still.
Click to expand...

I used the 580EX II attached to the camera. The flash unit had one of these diffusers http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180668680243&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT attached to it.

To be honest i think that diffuser is rubbish as i dont really see any difference with it on or off the flash.

What i did was set the aperture to f16 and used the maximum shutter speed i could get which was 1/250. The flash was set at auto (ETTL) so it decides what amount of power it would release. I wonder if it is possible to reduce the power of the flight when it is on ETTL.
 
You can reduce the power of the flash in E-TTL mode by using Flash exposure Compensation. Page 14 of the 580 EX II manual explains how.
 
Mike Jackson said:
You can reduce the power of the flash in E-TTL mode by using Flash exposure Compensation. Page 14 of the 580 EX II manual explains how.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mike. I have done this before via the camera menu options. I just looked at the manual and didnt know that it could be done from the flash as well. Presumabely there is no difference whether FEC is reduced from the camera or flash?
 
ziggy©;3757067 said:
I used the 580EX II attached to the camera. The flash unit had one of these diffusers http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180668680243&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT attached to it.

To be honest i think that diffuser is rubbish as i dont really see any difference with it on or off the flash.

What i did was set the aperture to f16 and used the maximum shutter speed i could get which was 1/250. The flash was set at auto (ETTL) so it decides what amount of power it would release. I wonder if it is possible to reduce the power of the flight when it is on ETTL.
Click to expand...

A "Blue Peter" Diffuser can be made for pennies and they work pretty well


Macro lighting set up-3 by Richo_I, on Flickr


A Fly by Richo_I, on Flickr
 
ziggy©;3757529 said:
Thanks Mike. I have done this before via the camera menu options. I just looked at the manual and didnt know that it could be done from the flash as well. Presumabely there is no difference whether FEC is reduced from the camera or flash?
Click to expand...

The flash setting overrides the camera setting according to the manual. I assume that if the flash is set to 0 then it will use the camera setting though.
 
that rig looks great ! just how do you get insects to be in the right place at the right time for you !
 
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