Jack,
There's no way I can see how useless the eyes are. In relation to the spider's body size the eyes seem quite large to me; at least as large as my eyes. And the eye of your G9 is also not all that big, but it does a fairly good job .
Well, look at how big this jumping spider's eyes are for a comparison:
http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/spiders/Paudax.htmThe orb spider has vestigal and virtually non-functional eyes; the jumper has fully-functional eyes. This is not a matter of "opinion," but of scientific fact.
As for the G9, it has its moments. In good light with a low ISO it can take some wonderful shots. But when it's dark or if my ISO goes up they can get pretty grainy. I have actually ruined many shots, that would have been great, but where I have inadvertently knocked the ISO dial up with my thumb and blown the whole deal
As regards getting really close to little creatures using a small camera in macro mode, of course there's a problem of their flying or running away. But the impression I get from watching the occasional wild life program on TV is that animals (especially insects) engaged in a life & death struggle tend to be oblivious to your presence, just as I guess you would be oblivious to the presence of a press photographer if you were fighting for your life whilst being mugged in some alley (sorry! can't think of a better analogy ).
Well, again, it is all a matter of perspective. I actually led a pretty colorful life in my 20s and still sport a few knife wounds, a "Picasso" ear, a whole roadmap on my scalp thanks to a few well-placed beer steins, as well as many other physical trophies from the non-serene youthful lifestyle I led ... so I would probably not be the one "fighting for my life" in that alley
Which brings us to the difference between predator and prey. The
prey is always the only terrified member of a "life-and-death" struggle; whereas
the predator is always cool and collected. Thus the dying animal struggling for his life probably wouldn't notice the approach of another entity in his panic ... whereas the cool predator who was lying in wait to make the pounce to begin with notices much more of his surroundings, even during the death struggle
Jack
.