I got a furry jumper!

Bend The Light · Apr 6, 2011

I have been after a good macro shot of a jumping spider for a long time. Well, I got this fella today...on the uncropped frame (sensor 2.2cm wide) he is about 1/3 of the width, that makes him about 7mm front to back...TINY!

He wouldn't keep still, but everytime I tapped the wall he'd spin around and look at my hand! He'd stay stock still for a second or two, then be off again...so I'd tap the wall again...

jumping spider 1 by Bend The Light, on Flickr

Derrel · Apr 6, 2011

Looks pretty good at this size. I stopped by Flickr and looked at the large size, and noticed the image doesn't look as good in terms of noise, and it seems like there's some greenish chromatic aberration.

Bend The Light · Apr 6, 2011

I don't think my 400d handles noise well at all. This is a crop, too, probably about 2/3 of the frame...
As for the CA, I dunno. The lens is an older Vivitar 90mm f2.8 Macro...it does some nice stuff, I think, but I suppose it could cause CA.

I was chuffed just to get one of these that wasn't a blur!

Overread · Apr 6, 2011

GAH! I'm still trying to get a shot of one of these devils - every time I see them I've never the camera with me - and when I do have the camera the word gets out and they hide up

Out of interest what settings and lighting were you using for this shot? (I can't review any exif on flickr till they fix it for opera users....)

Bend The Light · Apr 6, 2011

Overread said:
GAH! I'm still trying to get a shot of one of these devils - every time I see them I've never the camera with me - and when I do have the camera the word gets out and they hide up

Out of interest what settings and lighting were you using for this shot? (I can't review any exif on flickr till they fix it for opera users....)

Well, lighting...none. Was just outside this afternoon up against a breezeblock wall you can see in the picture...bushes around me. Quite a nice day, though, about 3.45pm.
Settings...again tricky. It's an M42 lens on my Canon 400d, so fully manual. it's a 90mm f2.8 macro (focussed at 1:1 magnification)...probably had ISO about 400, and aperture about f8...but can't be sure. I had a shutter of 1/160 at that...

It was tricky getting them to stay still...they move so quickly, with jerky movements. But like I said, I found when I tapped the wall they'd turn to look at the cause of the vibration...that's when I shot.