What to buy for this Purpose???

I'm needing to get some sort of lighting kit to take pictures of small
merchant services terminals which our company sells.

I'm thinking of getting a big roller that has white material that can
be attached to the wall up above and rolled down onto the table
where I'll be setting the object to take the pictures (like the roll
down deal you would project movies onto like in a classroom setting)
But, that's just for the white background...

I'm planning on having one of those long, hang down office
lighting fixtures to provide light from above (hung from ceiling)

I would need some sort of lighting kit to provide illumination for both sides.
Since I'm not a professional doing this for a living, I don't need anything that
is really expensive...just something that's decent

Any suggestions on where to find such lighting?

I assume you are trying to do this inexpensively so I'm guessing you want to stick with continuous lighting instead of flash. If the terminal is going to be lit from above by the office fixture then your side lights should be of a similar type of light bulb. You want this because you will need to do a custom white balance to get accurate colors. If you mix light types then at least part of your image will have a color cast to it. Unless its just impossible to avoid, dont use fluorescent bulbs as they dont have a full spectrum of colors.

Yeah, I don't need to spend alot on this as long as I can get decent pics.

It doesn't have to be world class quality photos. It's already going to
be much better quality with my new Canon Sureshot versus what my
old 2 megapixel Kodak could do which is what I've been using for this.

Thanks for the tip about not using fluorescent bulbs, and making sure
I match the side lighting with the type of lighting I have from above.

I'm not even sure, but it is even possible to get those long bulbs that go
in hang down lighting fixtures in anything other than fluorescent?

I guess I'll need to go down to Lowe's or Home Depot and see
what type of long bulbs they have

If the fixture above is a florescent unit. I would just turn it off or move away from it and get myself 3 regular light bulbs, it wouldnt hurt to get some of those reflector bases people use for worklights. One on top, and a couple for the sides.

Does florescent lighting damage the image quality, or does
just provide poor quality lighting? They do have bright white
covers for these types of fixtures. Would that help?

Only reason I'm asking is because I'm going to need this
lighting anyway because I'm setting up a work area where
I will be packaging products up getting them ready
for shipping.

And, since I'm going to be using a flash on top of the
camera, wouldn't that help provide good lighting?

Florescent lights arent full spectrum lights. They tend to be deficient in red and in some cases blue. That means you cant adjust your white balance to account for that completely.
As far as your lightning needs for your workspace thats a different matter completely. I'm just commenting on the feasibility of taking good shots. Covers arent going to improve them because the quality of the light is bad to begin with (for photo purposes) As for using the flash, DONT. each type of light you add is going to be a different color. Tungsten lights, regular light bulbs, are yellow, florescent are green, You can account for color shift from one light source in editing by setting a custom white balance. The setup you have described has a green tint from above, yellow from the sides and white from the on camera flash. A recipe for crap photos. Pick one source and stick with it.

Here you go. Build your own. Just change he size of the pvc pipe to fit your project.
http://www.pbase.com/w​lhuber/light_box_light​_tent
Mike

gonzogolf wrote in post #8179196
The setup you have described has a green tint from above, yellow from the sides and white from the on camera flash. A recipe for crap photos. Pick one source and stick with it.

OK, thanks for the details. Sounds like I may be better of turning the light above off when taking pictires and using my flash and lights I can setup on the shelves I have on both sides of the workbench where I'll have the object sitting when I'm getting pictures.

What about this idea for a back ground...It's been suggested to me that I
could mount a pull down window shade on the wall so it can be pulled down
onto the work bench to use as a white background.

Think this will work OK?

MT Stringer wrote in post #8180201
Here you go. Build your own. Just change he size of the pvc pipe to fit your project.
http://www.pbase.com/w​lhuber/light_box_light​_tent
Mike

Thanks for that link. I might try that at some point.

I did have a question about the software that came with my camera which
just arrived to day. What does the "Digital Camera Solution Disk" do for
me specifically?

Rockrz wrote in post #8184900
OK, thanks for the details. Sounds like I may be better of turning the light above off when taking pictires and using my flash and lights I can setup on the shelves I have on both sides of the workbench where I'll have the object sitting when I'm getting pictures.

What about this idea for a back ground...It's been suggested to me that I
could mount a pull down window shade on the wall so it can be pulled down
onto the work bench to use as a white background.

Think this will work OK?

Pick either the flash, or the lights on the shelves. Pick one type of light source. Either continuous, or flash. Not BOTH....

That would be fine for background if its wide enough.

As for the disk that came with you camera, the canon software is usually pretty good, but I' only familiar with the stuff that comes with the eos cameras.

gonzogolf wrote in post #8185879
Pick either the flash, or the lights on the shelves. Pick one type of light source. Either continuous, or flash. Not BOTH.....

I get it....sounds like one type of lighting works best, not mixing
different types of lighting together.

gonzogolf wrote in post #8185879
As for the disk that came with you camera, the canon software is usually pretty good, but I' only familiar with the stuff that comes with the eos cameras.

The disk that came with mine is "Canon Digital Camera Solution Ver. 39.1"

I've been practicing a little this afternoon so I can learn about the controls
and so far I've just been using my Photo Impact software by Ulead which
works pretty good. I think it can read RAW but not sure yet.

The software loaded easily and opens quickly so it seems to be good
running software. I'll have to experiment with it as I go along and see
if I even need it.

So, I take it Canon offers different software for working on pictures
for all their cameras, right?

How about a white sheet, a tripod, and daylight?

That reminds me...in Jr High, we made a home made Pin hole camera
and had a contest to see who could take the best picture.

I captured a tire on a car!

I'm not kidding. Since your subject doesn't move if you keep the camera and subject still it doesn't matter how long the exposure takes. There's no point spending money if you don't need to. I've done studio style shots using a white door, a reflector, and ambient light, it came out looking like I used studio lighting. I just couldn't be bothered dragging it all out for one shot.

It's not about what you've got, it's about what you know. Light is light, once you understand how to manipulate and capture it you'll be a step ahead of most people.

tim wrote in post #8191944
It's not about what you've got, it's about what you know. Light is light, once you understand how to manipulate and capture it you'll be a step ahead of most people.

Yes, I'm already seeing that this is true just by the experimenting
I've been doing the past two days since I got my camera.

I've been practicing on our 2 Chihuahuas, and they think the
paparazzi is suddenlt following them around so they're acting
accordingly and demanding larger perks & paychecks!