Hi Steve
Don’t confuse zoom range with the camera’s ability to magnify the subject close up. They are different requirements. Zoom is optimised to bring small objects closer from distance, such as wildlife photography. Macro shooting relies on the camera’s ability to put a life size or bigger image on the CCD when making the image.
To get decent close up pictures the minimum focus point of the camera is the most important factor because the closer you can get to the subject the bigger it will seem in the picture. The other important points are a small aperture (high F number) and keeping the camera steady. These last two are what increases the depth of field, so enables all of the subject to be in focus.
You can buy dedicated SLR kit for this but to be honest, it is overkill for our application. A good point and shoot with a decent macro setting will perform well enough for web posting. I have a really good Canon set up, but use a Panasonic LUMIX for most of my model photography. It has a good wide angle lense and this makes it easier to use in a general bench environment. All of my recent 28mm figure pictures have been taken with this camera.
Another wrinkle I use a lot is to shoot the shot from slightly further away, making sure is is really sharp, then crop the picture to make the subject appear bigger.
Cheers
Tim