So, how do you MP-E guys do it?

After taking a couple of pretty good (well for me) dragonfly shots and already loving the results of the MP-E 65 (by the way if anyone in the UK wants to sell their cheaply let me know I really want one!!) I thought I'd try out some closer shots, so did the following:

Got the 100mm out
Attached the Kenko 1.4 TC

Wet after a fairly stable looking spider in a web and found it looked more like it was on a trampoline than a web!! It was all over the place, even without the TC.

I was going to move on to the tubes but I was already having trouble, and of course it started to sling it down, typical!

So, the question is, how do you guys managed with the MP-E when I can't even keep the blighter still for the 100mm.

Also is TC/tubes the best route to go for building up to the MP-E?

I don't know, but I don't think there's any magic to it, just take a hell load of shots.

mostly use it with flash to freeze movement and allow smaller apertures.

Yes, flash is pretty darn important, and bracing against something if you can (free-handing it out in mid-air is much harder unless you can brace your elbows in against your sides or against your knees while squatting). Take a deep breath, and then try to relax and move the camera into position moving very slowly, so as not to scare the subject, and so as to not miss the moment when the eyes come into sharpest focus. Sway back and forth a tiny bit to make sure the eyes are at the sharpest point...then snap it. Try to take several shots in that sweet spot, because just random movement will make a difference at these magnifications. Then if you are planning to try a hand-held focus stack, work outward from the eyes in one direction, and then the other.

Use a very small aperture to maximize forgiveness with sharpness.

This has been giving me the best results so far.

Cheers all

I wonder if on this occasion not being handheld was causing my issues, usually I do go handheld but figured with the precision needed I would need the tripod, however it looks like a scatter-shot approach would have at least given me one in focus.

I hadn't picked up on the fact that you were using a tripod. Sounds like it might be time to critically look at your tripods quality, as when I use a tripod even at 4X things are stable as a rock. I do need a set of focus rails for the MP-E however, to ease the process, but with a focusing lens it's no issue.

I, personally, have not had any luck at the "scatter-shot" approach. I find that when I download, they are all still out of focus or have motion blur in spite of using a flash. Only slow, careful, sincere attempts at holding still and in focus has yielded me sharp shots, and even those have a mediocre keeper rate. When I get in a hurry or get frustrated and just start machine-gunning the subject, I find my keeper rate drops to 0%.

Okay, thanks - I actually just upgraded the tripod to a Giottos MTL9351B which is pretty good, it was the very light breeze that made the spider bounce all over - it just surprised me I think when you get that close how little movement it takes to knock it out of focus.

Ah yea, wind is a tough one to deal with. Handheld probably would have been the best bet there, but the spider in the web was probably moving more than your tripod, so chasing it handheld would have been a nightmare too.