Much of the equipment is not new. I don't know what it is worth now, but I can tell what I paid for it. The camera is the cheapest digital SLR from Canon, the 350D (it is called rebel xt or something in the US). With a 18-50 lens from Sigma (4.0 max aperture) I gave around $1200. The lens on the picture though, is a canon 75-300mm (4.0/5.6) which was worth around $300. The extension tubes costed about $240 and the blitz and blitz cable about $370. The bracket is home made. I also have some other equipment (like a tripod, another lens, an analog SLR, filters etc) which is not shown in the picture, but nothing of it is of the more expensive types (relative to what it could have costed with more professional variants).
I have had the photography hobby for many years, so I didn't buy it all at once :-) It took me many years to get all my equipment. And since much of it is not new, the value of it today is much lower.
But as I mentioned above in an earlier posting, it is possible to do extreme macro with much cheaper equipment (using a reverse mounted lens on an other lens and some duct tape). Buying a lot of expensive equipment before you know if it is something you really need and can make use of is very unwise. I have never bought new equipment before I knew I really needed it. I often see photographer with very expensive equipement they don't know how to use. My equipment is quite cheap for a SLR system, but still I am responsible myself most of the time when the picture is not razor sharp, not my equipment. It is very possble to take great pictures with a cheap SLR and a cheap lens. The photographer is the vital part, not the lens or camera body, and the thing that can make you take great pictures is a lot of practice and maybe some good reading about technique. Wait to buy more equipment till you know you need it, and you know WHAT you need.
I am still just an amateur, and I often take terrible pictures. But once in a while when I take a great shot, I get a thrill that makes this hobby so fun. It is allways possible to take better pictures, and I allways dream of the "perfect picture" which I will never get :-)