Thanks, guys.
Originally posted by stevebrot Wow! No focus stacking or any dark magic?
I'm not dedicated enough for focus stacking, I fear
The 52BB + Raynox DCR-150 gives me a little better than 1:1 magnification. Because of a little wonkiness with my PKA adapter, when the aperture is set in-camera to f/16 the resultant aperture established by the lens is actually f/13.
My goal in terms of image usability is to have a good-quality photo that displays 2560 pixels on the long side - my recently-deceased Android tablet had a display of 2560x1600, and I decided that the 2560 would be my resolution of choice for jpeg files I upload to Google Photos. If the image happens to be mostly square - like the lady bug pic above - I'll go 1600 pixels on the short side. So as long as I do my job as the photographer the Pentax camera and 52BB allow me considerable room for cropping. The lady bug, hoverfly, and robber fly are crops, while the orchard spider* is the full frame.
* The orchard spider photo is upside-down. When I photographed it, I was prone on the inclined ground and shot upwards maybe 30°. I flipped the image horizontally during PP, hence it appears illuminated from underneath.
** During my backyard and backyard-adjacent excursions, I tote a lightweight resin stool with me. This allows me to sit comfortably, rest my elbows on my knees, and focus by moving the camera with a surprising (to me) degree of precision.