Also, a tripod will help get those tack sharp images. Be it a table top or an inexpensive model, be sure to weigh it down to make it as steady as possible to reduce camera shake. My main digital body is nearly 13 years old and "only" 10.1mp, it's on its second shutter and the rubber grips are peeling. It still is perfectly adequate for nearly anything I need to shoot.
The single common denominator in all photography, good or bad, is lighting. With good lighting use or technique, you can even make a 5mp camera with a halfway decent lens shoot really nice images. Far too often people get wrapped up in buying newer, better, more expensive cameras rather than learning how to light scenes.
More light is the number one thing I recommend, right behind diffuse light. So rather than direct sun, use a white wall or foam core board to reflect light into a shaded area. This does two things, one it eliminates specular highlights (tiny Starburst reflections) and two, it makes the apparent light source much larger giving more even brightness. If you have only a bare bulb desk lamp, get it close, like really close, that makes it aparantly bigger and more even. Cheap cameras can always deal with too much light, but only expensive ones can deal with not enough, well.
MORE LIGHT will always be the first answer.
-Xander
Maybe I want to become a baker!
