What is the best camera/lens for photographing jewelry ?(for a website)?

I have used many cameras from my old 35mm to my powershot A300 all were fine. The trick was not getting to close (use the camera zoom), Keep the camera steady (Use a stand) and use indirect flash.

One more thing to keep in mind, in my experiences, the higher the megapixels the better the quality when enlarging a picture.

As far as lens, then it should be a normal to mid telephoto lens (35mm film equiv would be 50mm lens to 100mm lens) as it will not distort the images as with wide angle lens would, i.e. wide angle tends to create a fish bowl effect and cause the middle part of the image to bubble out and create a distortion of the object. Note that digital SLR are usually 1.5x, which means that a 28mm lens is actually the normal lens.

The other thing that's important is to have correct lighting and a cloth/satin material drap background. Lighting should be from two 45 degrees angle. If you want to create a good depth of field effect, i.e. closer part in focus, then use a low f stop.

Answers so far are rubbish. If you want to photograph jewelery and you want to do it well, the best lens is called a macro prime lens. Macro meaning it deals with tiny objects and prime meaning it has a fixed focal length (can't zoom in or out), but is the sharpest of all lenses. A digital slr like a nikon D50 or a Canon 350D will be the best. If you're on a budget, buying a nikon coolpix would be the best option and set it on macro when taking the photos. For lighting, place white icecream container over jewel, cut a hole in courner for camera to see the jewel and place 3 desktop lamps around the icecream container.

Any digital camera should be OK - I recommend Canon Eos - Many are quite affordable. Then get a macro lens. This will let you get close enough to see the details. - BTW - Agree with Mason T - good ideas. You could also get good lighting outside either in direct sunlight for faceted gems or in cloudy sky/shade for cabochons. Velvet works well as a back-drop also. - good luck.

Not only when you buy best camera and lens will be able to take the best pictures,what types of flashes or studio's lightings you are using? Best lighting will be giving you the best pictures.and you will need to use soften flash lighting to compensate lightings for soften the shadows or remove the shadows.