1. A method for inspecting an object to assist in determining whether the object has a surface defect, comprising: moving the object in a first direction by a linear stage; illuminating the object under ambient lighting conditions by at least one ambient illumination source; capturing at least one image of the object under the ambient lighting conditions while the object moves in the first direction to provide a registration image by an optical sensor; illuminating the object under object lighting conditions by at least one object illumination source; capturing at least one image of the object under the object lighting conditions while the object moves in the first direction to provide at least one object image by the optical sensor; selecting at least one object image having at least one indication of a possible defect to provide images having defect candidates by a controller; comparing the defect candidates with previously defined characteristics associated with the defect to facilitate determination of whether a defect exists by the controller, the method further comprising registering the registration image captured under the ambient lighting conditions with the at least one image of the object captured under the object lighting conditions based on position readings from the linear stage by the controller.