Macro Camera Recommendations

[Charisma L Riley <charisma.riley@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I am a technical writer who suddenly
finds herself in a position wherein there is a critical need to take high-quality
photos, with little-to-no light loss, of very tiny things... many  are
borderline-to-microscopic, metallic or otherwise, and require a microscope
to be dealt with... but the camera also requires the flexibility to be
used on regular-sized objects.  I am researching Digital SLR cameras
and various macro lens systems, but am really unsure what it all means.
 I would love it if some actual photographers who were used to working
with macro photography could recommend some systems?  Also, we are
not expert photographers, so one with some automatic functionality would
be extremely helpful.  Please respond to me directly, if possible.

Thanks in advance!

~Charisma Riley