textile photography/SLR camera

[colors2b]

Hi,
I will be taking photographs of textiles for a coffe table book. My budget for a digital SLR camera, body and lens, is between $1400 and $2000. I'm contemplating either a Nikon or a Canon. The biggest piece of textile is about 8' x 8'. Most of them are 6' x 6'. I will also photograph several lithographs, the smallest being 4"x4". In the book, many of the actual images will be 10"x10". Would I need to get two different lenses? Someone suggested getting a wide angle lense. Any suggestions for a body and lens for this specific project within the maximum $2000 budget? Will appreciate any response.

[AlexMonro]

You'll probably need a macro lens to get a 4"x4" lithograph to fill the frame. I wouldn't have thought wide angle would be very helpful for the macro close up, but might be useful for the large textiles if you can't get far enough back. However, wide angle lenses tend to have more distortion, which might be apparent if the textile designs have straight lines.

You might want to think about lighting - a ring flash could be helpful for the macro shots - and also possibly a copying stand. A tripod will probably be useful for the large textiles, especially if using available light.

[coldrain]

1st of all, it is lens, not lense. (deja vu)

2nd, I would prefer a Canon 30D above any Nikon, since Canons seem to better capture materials like fabrics, metals and glasses. Also if you want to go wideangle, the EF-S 10-22 f3.5-4.5 USM has very low distortion, much lower than for instance the much more expensive Nikon 12-24mm.

But of course you may not need such a wide lens. I would go for the following kit:
Canon EOS 30D,
EF 17-40 f4 L,
Tamron SP AF 90mm f2.8 Di macro lens.

But that will put you above stated budget... so maybe the following will fit better:
Canon EOS 20D or EOS 350D,
EF 17-40 f4 L,
Sigma 50mm f2.8 1:1 macro.

[colors2b]

thanks for the suggestions.