When I just started out taking pictures, I actually just used a normal point and shoot while holding a magnifying glass......seriously....and the pics were not half bad acceptable.
Here is one of the pics I took of a crystal red shrimp when I only had a dollar store magnifying glass and a point and shoot(Its pretty macro considering how small they are..but I guess not as magnified as the pics you linked)
I now use a dslr with a 105 macro lens which will allow me to get a closer shot:
I am now in the process of playing around with my macro lens + extension tubes... the work distance is stupidly short, but it blows up the image even more....
