Jumping Spider Macro Images

This article features a small selection of jumping spider macro images that were captured handheld using in-camera focus stacking (HHFS) with my E-M1X, an M.Zuiko 90 mm f/3.5 PRO IS macro lens, and an M.Zuiko MC-20 teleconverter.

I’m still in the early stages of my learning curve with this lens. These jumping spider macro photographs should definitely be viewed from a test image perspective. All of the photographs in this article are full frame captures without any cropping. They were resized to 1200 pixels on the width for website use.

As regular readers know, I enjoy pushing myself and my camera gear, and this was certainly true for the test images in this article. To that end, all of the featured photographs were captured with the assistance of an M.Zuiko MC-20 teleconverter. This created some extra challenge when using handheld in-camera focus stacking as the focal length used was 180 mm, or an equivalent field of view of 360 mm. Any hand/body movements on my part would have been amplified by the increased focal length and the close focusing distance.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.

OM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 90 mm f/3.5 PRO IS macro with M.Zuiko MC-20 teleconverter @ 180 mm, efov 360 mm, f/14, 1/800, ISO-6400, full frame capture, Handheld In-Camera Focus Stacking, subject distance 285 mm

I don’t know the exact physical size of the orange and white jumping spider in these images… but it was tiny… likely measuring only a few millimetres in length.

It was sitting on the top of a small garden solar light when it caught a very small fly. As it moved around trying to subdue its catch I had to adjust my shooting angle as best I could from my sitting position on my rear deck. Patience was also needed as there were a few occasions when I had to wait for the spider to move back into a more appropriate shooting angle.

OM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 90 mm f/3.5 PRO IS macro with M.Zuiko MC-20 teleconverter @ 180 mm, efov 360 mm, f/14, 1/800, ISO-6400, full frame capture, Handheld In-Camera Focus Stacking, subject distance 240 mm

I’m still experimenting with my in-camera focus stacking settings for the M.Zuiko 90 mm f/3.5 PRO IS macro lens. Rather than take a chance on using completely new HHFS settings, I reverted back to my standard settings of 10 stacked photographs with a focus differential of 4 for these photographs.

One of the challenges when using the M.Zuiko MC-20 teleconverter for these photographs was losing two stops of light, and a couple of stops of Sync-IS performance. This resulted in me capturing these images at ISO-6400, with a shutter speed of 1/800, and an aperture of either f/14 or f/16. As could be expected, these settings had a negative impact on the quality of the out-of-camera jpegs.

I used a single, small auto-focus point for all of the images in this article.

OM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 90 mm f/3.5 PRO IS macro with M.Zuiko MC-20 teleconverter @ 180 mm, efov 360 mm, f/16, 1/800, ISO-6400, full frame capture, Handheld In-Camera Focus Stacking, subject distance 265 mm

As I continue to experiment with the M.Zuiko 90 mm PRO IS macro lens I’ll hopefully become more proficient with it. In my initial article about this lens, I mentioned that I was having some difficulty using the in-camera focus stacking function on a handheld basis. Continued experimentation has proven that this issue was due to operator error/technique on my part.

OM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 90 mm f/3.5 PRO IS macro with M.Zuiko MC-20 teleconverter @ 180 mm, efov 360 mm, f/16, 1/800, ISO-6400, full frame capture, Handheld In-Camera Focus Stacking, subject distance 285 mm

Although it is still early in my experimentation, the M.Zuiko 90 mm f/3.5 PRO IS has already enabled me to create images that I could not have captured with our M.Zuiko 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens.

While capturing these jumping spider macro images I felt a strong sense of creative adventure. This bodes well for the future.

Technical Note

Photographs were captured handheld with the camera equipment and technology noted in the EXIF data. All images were created from out-of-camera jpegs files using my standard process in post. This is the 1,386 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.

How you can keep this website advertising free.

My intent is to keep this photography blog advertising free. If you enjoyed this article and/or my website and would like to support my work, you can purchase an eBook, or make a donation through PayPal (see Donation box below). Both are most appreciated.

Sometimes all we need as photographers is a bit of inspiration. We hope you can find some of that inside Finding Visual Expression II.

Finding Visual Expression II is available for download for an investment of $11.99 CDN. The best viewing experience of this eBook will be at 100% using Adobe Acrobat Reader.

You may be interested in all of the 30 concepts covered in both of these related eBooks. If so, you may want to also consider Finding Visual Expression.

Finding Visual ExpressionΒ is available for download for an investment of $11.99 Cdn. The best viewing experience of this eBook will be at 100% using Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Our other eBooks include Images of Ireland, New Zealand Tip-to-Tip, Nikon 1: The Little Camera That Could, Desert & Mountain Memories, Images of Greece, Nova Scotia Photography Tour, and a business leadership parable… Balancing Eggs.

If you click on the Donate button below you will find that there are three donation options: $7.50, $10.00 and $20.00. All are in Canadian funds. Plus, you can choose a different amount if you want. You can also increase your donation amount to help offset our costs associated with accepting your donation through PayPal. An ongoing, monthly contribution to support our work can also be done through the PayPal Donate button below.

You can make your donation through your PayPal account, or by using a number of credit card options.



Word of mouth is the best form of endorsement. If you like our website please let your friends and associates know about our work. Linking to this site or to specific articles is allowed with proper acknowledgement. Reproducing articles, or any of the images contained in them, on another website or in any social media posting is a Copyright infringement.

Article and images are Copyright 2024 Thomas Stirr. All rights reserved. No use, duplication or adaptation of any kind is allowed without written consent. If you see this article reproduced anywhere else it is an unauthorized and illegal use. Posting comments on offending websites and calling out individuals who steal intellectual property is always appreciated!

15 thoughts on “Jumping Spider Macro Images”

  1. Holy moly beautiful photography Thomas,
    Just started using Photo lab 7 and DXO Pure raw 4. And then I go into Topaz Denois AI and what a difference. Thank you for your work flow. It has made a big diff on my processing. And by the way, my 100-400 came back from Olympus and the repairs they made is amazing now!
    Ain’t not needing no (triple negative) a new cam for sure! EM1X RULES!

    1. Hi Woody,

      I guess it depends on how we define user error. πŸ™‚ To me user error helps to gauge the amount of personal growth and improvement that’s available to me.

      Tom

  2. Thank you, Thomas.
    I presume the details you mention is limited to info following the RAW images. I am a dedicated, long time Linux user, so having access to all the Windows programs is a real hassle. For the time being, I’ll stick to the JPGs from the camera, and try to get them as good as possible without post prosessing. It is a learning process with a steep curve! πŸ™‚

    Olaf

    1. Hi Olaf,

      As long as I use DxO PhotoLab it will reveal the distance to subject for both RAW and jpeg files. I’ve never worked with Linux, so it is possible that the information may be revealed with that program as well.

      Tom

      1. Hi Tom
        Thank you for your inspiration. I’m using E-M1X and DxO PhotoLab 6. And I can’t find the shooting distance in the exif-data. Could you give me any hints?
        Benedikt

  3. Nice work Thomas. I use the 90mm without the MC-20 … Australian jumping spiders always a favourite subject.
    Regards Bill C.

    (Attempted to attach a couple of shots, but software will not accept them)…

    1. Hi Bill,

      I’m sure that I will use the 90 mm without a teleconverter on a regular basis as well. Right now I’m in full blown experimentation mode so I’m trying to push things.

      Tom

  4. Hi Thomas, exiting spider photos!
    I wonder about a detail in most of your pics, which is the distance to your subject. How do you measure it?
    I have recently bought a secondhand E-M1X, for which I am trying to work out the details from the massive 683 page manual. I also found a cheap Hama macro bellow, for old OM cameras and lenses. I will try to use the OM to M43 adapter with the bellow, and I have some lenses from my old OM-4 to play with. Macro is fun!

    1. Hi Olaf,

      My E-M1X bodies and my wife’s E-M1 Mark III estimate the distances to subject. I use DxO PhotoLab as the first stage of my post process. I export a DNG file from DxO into PhotoShop CS6… then complete my files with the Nik Collection or Topaz DeNoise AI or Sharpen AI as needed. From what I can tell, DxO helps reveal that information in the EXIF data so it can be read in PhotoShop, or in my case, when I review a finished file using Windows Explorer.

      Tom

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *