I have a Nikon D5100, but any digital SLR camera will do. Even the low end Nikon D3100 is great one. I hear Canon camera's are good, but thats a Ford vs. Chevy type argument I'm not going to have (I wouldn't use anything but a Nikon)
Also, I have a Nikon SB700 shoe flash which I use. I turn it 180 degrees and bounce the flash off the (white) ceiling. This is one of the most important tricks.
For extra lighting, I use cheap daylight lights on stands, like these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lighting-St...544?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5af3899460
On this set, I took the photos on glass about 6 inches off the background (off white). I used photoshop to trim the background from the photo. The white you see is actually just blank screen, no background. Most cheap photo editing programs will do this. When you take the pic of the item on glass, it makes trimming easier. If I place the pistol directly on the background the backing is too much in focus and doesn't clean up well. Taking photos of rifles on glass is impossible, those are just shot on the background.
When I get my setup finished I'll post some photos of it in use for the boards. For grins, I've attached an unedited photo, and another with a purty background for Gerg.