Groggy morning. Thanks for the compliment Fred. I've probably forgotten most of the fundamentals of photography, but I'm starting to rediscover some.
Brian,
I've encountered some of the inconsistant focus problems you mentioned. With my camera, this was due to insufficient light to allow the autofocus to properly capture the subject.
Back to lighting.
You may very well have a camera perfectly capable of doing all you want. I'd recommend getting some better lighting. HomeD and Lowes sell shop halogen lightstands for a bargain. That will get you the candlepower you need and more.
Then the trick about lighting is figuring out how to use it to control glare and shadows. The easy solution is to "bounce" it off white walls and the ceiling in a room. Just imagine the light is a billiard ball, the walls and you're subject (gun in this case) are the rails on the billiard table. The difference comes in that you usually don't want the light to bounce off the subject at an angle that directs it right at the camera, in fact, usually just the opposite, you want to avoid bouncing into the camera to avoid glare. Bouncing light also reduces it's harshness and softens the light like many of the pics you see in DGJ. Bottom line, lighting is THE ONE THING (to paraphrase Curly in City Slickers) in photography. Photography simply captures reflected light.
