Just found this little guy on my roof...Its a keeper

[HARLEY-XLH666]

Thought it looked pretty cool. It's now in a deli cup added to my T collection I guess. Upon really close inspection it seems to have a cool little design on its abdomen. (I'm now starting to see the importance of a macro lens)
First pic just for idea of size.

[What]

Looks like a Steatoda sp. Better pics would make it easier to ID...

[HARLEY-XLH666]

Cool, I'll try & get some better ones tomorrow. Not like its going anywhere:D
I wish I could get a good shot of its abdomen pattern though. Kinda hard with a stock a540. Then again I also have no clue how to use the damn thing either:wall: I think I might try one of those macro lenses from ebay:?

[Xaranx]

Does your camera not have a macro function? You should be able to get decent shots with that camera. Taking good photos of your collection is a hobby into itself, one that can definitely benefit from a little research and reading.

[HARLEY-XLH666]

Taking good photos of your collection is a hobby into itself

haha, yeah I've already learned that one. My only concern with the picture taking is how bad the flash bothers the spiders (Specifically the T's). Like seriously, sometimes I find myself taking 25-30 shots of one spider just to get 1 decent pic.


But yeah, this is the macro function. If I get any closer its a blur and if I back up and use the zoom its still a blur. Im starting to give up on this camera.
I remember I had a casio ex-750 exilim before and I was pretty good with that thing. I'm looking at getting another one of those. Only problem with that one is it doesn't have the ability to change lenses like the a540.

[HARLEY-XLH666]

Sorry, the last 2 pics are with the macro. The first one is just normal shot. Pic 2 no flash pic 3 with flash. Pic 3 , any closer with the flash and the whole picture is just white.

[HARLEY-XLH666]

Here the pictures I was gonna get. No surprise with my piece of junk camera the abdomen pattern still didn't show. These are after about a 1/2 hour of playing around with macro, ISO, zoom, flash output and flash on/off and these are the best I got. Get any closer and the whole picture is washed out white from the flash and blurry with no flash. I'm beginning to think my camera is broken. But regardless are these any better for a positive ID??

[Bastian Drolshagen]

I´d say Steatoda grossa...