My brother inlaw is getting into tarantulas!

My brother inlaw is getting into tarantulas and i have no macro stuff. I took this unedited (sorry) pics this morning with my 50mm for a test. Considering they all will get pretty big, do you think i can get away with just buying a set of kenko tubes to help get closer/ more detailed pics?

What gear do you own?

Since like you said they are "big", I think you can make good pictures using standard lenses (perhaps even without tubes depending on what lens you have). just work on the lighting and I'm sure you'll do fine.

Just updated my sig. My friend found a old rokinon lens at a estate sale a couple months ago for a dollar.
I took it apart and made a reverse lens using just the glass. Works well but I haven't seen the pics yet.

considering their size, for taking pictures of theraphosid spiders, the normal kit lens is more than enough.

I never found that they have any features that are worth doing extreme macros on, unlike insects, they have very poorly developed eyes. I always find a picture of the full spider on dorsal view is the nicest.

Of course, once you get into it, your BIL might start acquiring some spiderlings, and these would require a set-up that would at least give you 1:1 reproduction ratio... and for some species, it is not even enough as the babies are really tiny.

But for adults, it would be more than enough, aside from some dwarf genera like Cyriocosmus for example, which some species are quite tiny at adult size.

Here is a pair of Cyriocosmus elegans mating in my hands!

Martin G. wrote in post #16205520
considering their size, for taking pictures of theraphosid spiders, the normal kit lens is more than enough.

Yeah, at the most, get some tubes. I wouldn't invest in a macro lens if these are what you'll mainly be shooting.

Martin G. wrote in post #16205520
Here is a pair of Cyriocosmus elegans mating in my hands!

I hope you washed up, Martin.

thanks guys. yeah my reverse lens rig took even worse pics shooting threw the extra glass so come friday i will be able to order the tubes.

martin, i wish i remembered all the species. everytime i turn around, he is going to another reptile show getting more. in a couple weeks you will hopefully see some pics.
And yes those baby spiders are insainly small!!!!!!

On a side note, how much flash is too much for these little guys?

"too much" meaning a level that could be harmful to the animal? If that is the case, I do not believe it creates any problems for them.

if by "too much" you mean for the quality of the picture, it depends with what species. Species with a lot of metallic sheen will suffer much more from flash as it does not render their beauty at all. The more "mate" species are pretty much fine with flash in general.

Martin G. wrote in post #16206073
The more "mate" species are pretty much fine with flash in general.

I think you mean "matte".

ed57gmc wrote in post #16210420
I think you mean "matte".

yep, I knew when I was typing it that it did not look quite right... thanks (English is not my first language, hopefully I can be forgiven!).

Martin

Forgotten, since this is going to be for what I assume is not commercial use, don't spend a lot of money on the tubes. Get the tubes with electrical contacts so you can adjust the aperture, but you don't need Canon or Kenko's price wise. There are a lot of decent tubes that can be had for a full set for less than $100.

Martin G. wrote in post #16211858
yep, I knew when I was typing it that it did not look quite right... thanks (English is not my first language, hopefully I can be forgiven!).

Martin

Certainly. I hope I could do that well in another language. I'm an admin at augi.com and I have a habit of doing things that will help readers that might be reading this a long time from now.

Thanks all for input. I pulled the trigger on a set of kenko tubes. they should be here on monday. I set up a new topic about tips on using them if anyboday wants to help. Thanks all !!!!!!!