Great idea Buck
Here is my economy set up.
I have a Canon G10 compact high end camera (at the time) that was a hiking camera before the dust got into the lens. I sent it back for a new lens and now it is indoor only use.
I use manual settings and set the white balance for incandescent lights.
I made my "light box" out of 2x2 lumber, dowels and an old white sheet. I use the inexpensive clamp on lights found at most home improvement stores. Currently, I have a tile as the background on the bottom.
The software that I use in IrfanView which is a viewer program that allows one to optimize and resize among other things
http://www.irfanview.com/
Here are photos of my setup, a Model 14 and the camera settings

Peter