A very interesting thread and a lot of useful suggestions.
Lighting-wise, I think you have to ask yourself what kind of toy photography you are planning to do. I shoot rather large dioramas, and I find that natural light coming in from a window, supplemented by a small Lume Cube or Litra Torch is enough for my most basic needs.
As others have said, a tripod is a must. You can’t go wrong with a mid-price Manfrotto.
Software, I use different kinds of software depending on whether I’m editing on my macbook or ipad (I prefer the ipad these days … much more convenient). My go-to software is Lightroom, but I used Snapseed for years, and that’s free! I also use the touch/retouch app for erasing stands, wires and other things that help with some poses. It’s a very powerful app and I find it’s much better than the clone/heal feature in LR.
Lastly … the camera. I started with an Iphone SE, and looking back, it showed
Then I started using a Canon mid-price SLR that I had owned for years and never bothered to use much. I learned how to use it properly - exposure, white balance, depth of field and so on - and that really helped me up my game. I’ve outgrown the Canon now, also because I’m moving to a more professional set-up that requires high resolution pictures. As a replacement I splurged on a Leica Q2. Not the most obvious of choices for toy photography, but I’m really happy with the results and also the fact that I can use it for ‘real life’ photography.
Anyway, hope this helps!
