Digital Solution for Advertising

[Adman]

Hi everyone,
I have been running a small but successful Mac based advertising/graphic design firm for the last 10 years, and would like to upgrade our photo equipment. Years ago we purchased an Olympus D600L and a couple of tungsten hot lights, (no flash) very basic but it worked for small format product shots, catalog images etc. Since then I have had several employees bring in their own DC cameras, which usually rangefrom 3 - 4 megapixels so we've been getting by. I often hire a pro for complex shoots, but my goals are to find one system that will provide 1). a better in-house studio solution and 2). a portable solution that would allow us to pack up lights/camera and shoot at a client's location. In house studio subjects are varied; we shoot small products like 1 - 5 gallon paint containers, recently shot some food and beverage requiring close up/macro. These images will often be used for print advertising, so resolution and quality is a huge concern. We even occasionally find ourselves needing to enlarge images up to several feet in size for tradeshows, posters etc. Location work is also varied, using models, sometimes architectural. Anyway, at this point I am considering the Nikon D70, so as to utilize the famous Nikkor lenses, and more importantly a variety of lenses like wide angle, fisheye, macro, whatever.(as you can tell I'm more of an ad man than a photo expert so bear with me) Also considering the Alzo lighting kit with 3 cool lights and a boom/tent as shown here (scroll down to the statue): http://sell-it-on-the-net.com/online..._tent_kits.htm
For the location work, I was thinking of taking these lights (or others?) and reflectors linked to an Apple laptop to use for viewing/proofing. Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated, I am looking for thoughts on lenses, quality/resolution issues (should I go for 8 megapixles instead of 6?), architectural distortion from 35mm format, lighting options, etc. Many thanks in advance.

[Sebastian]

There are relatively small product tables out on the market, but I guess whether or not they can be deemed portable will depend on your needs. Check out B&H and Calumet Photo, both carry different models. I know of one portable lighting kit by Photoflex that includes table, two lamps, softboxes, etc. Check them out as well.

For the camera, the diifference between 8 and 6 megapixels is not large enough to make it a selling point. As for architecture shots, 35mm is not the problem, the lack of motions in the lenses is. To help fight that both nikon and Canon have tilt-shift lenses, though Canons give you a bit more motion. Either will let you deal with perspective issues associated with architecture photography.