“Micro contrast” is a term I’ve heard used many times, and something that I’ve probably had some implicit understanding of for some time, but I don’t think I ever took the trouble to research it. Thom Hogan has recently published an article on micro contrast, and I think it’s well worth a read through for anyone who’d like to deepen his/her understanding of photographic terminology.
As I understand it, quality of micro contrast will come down to both quality of equipment and skill in post-processing. I suspect that, for most photographers, achieving good micro contrast will depend more on the latter than the former.