Best basic light tent setup

[scott21071982]

Hi, I'm an aspiring graphic designer and am looking for a decent setup that would enable me take decent shots of smaller objects (up to 1 metre in length) such as foods, wine, as well as more random things like paper mache and clay.

I'm a total novice when it comes to photography and am currently using Lumix Panasonic DMC-TZ6 point and shoot, I'm hoping this will do a decent enough job of close-ups??

The setup I'm currently looking at is PhotoSEL Studio Lighting Kit Set 150cm Light Tent 2x85w, which comes in at 175 quid.

What do you think, will this do the job or is it overkill? Are their better value alternatives? I've read a lot of posts which suggest using cheap halogen lights and making a DIY light box, is it worth the extra spend, or indeed do you recommend I spend more?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[A[L]C]

Do you already have strobes or lights?

 

[scott21071982]

I have no equipment whatsoever, starting from scratch.

 

[scott21071982]

Any takers?

 

[Alastair]

Read the book Light, Science and Magic before buying anything, that way you'll know what you need to do and what you'll need to do it. You've already listed items with very different surfaces that will respond very differently to light. Maybe take a looks at Steve's shots and the way he sets up his budget lighting.