As I’m working in this imaging field, there are many things to consider depending on what is your requirement. (Anything, don’t get Sony unless you want the best design and thinness)

if its DSLR, currently i would recommend Pentax as it has the most natural colour result compare to nikon, canon and sony. fuji SPro is good too. unless you don have a budget limit, then Leica is the BEST.

for point and shoot, i rather go for Fujifilm F series with the Super CCD and the latest EXR. its produces awesome quality results with minimum noise. with the EXR, even high ISO, it is not noisy at all. Pentax is good for this range but i highly don’t recommend Sony, Nikon (their DSLRs are acceptable though), Samsung and casio as their quality is horrific, noisy and especially sony, its yellowish.

Ricoh is best at micro-shoot. clear and nice. so if you’re more into mirco, i would recommend Ricoh. if you want a good quality, especially during low light exposure, got for Fujifilm SuperCCD EXR. or just a simple camera with good quality, Pentax, Kodak and Fujiflim J series. their prices is good too.

if quality isn’t so important as you are an adventure, then Olympus tough series. the quality and battery life is not good but the shock-proof has its result.

Also, spending more, is just given away large amounts of cash. It’s all about the brain of the user.

Think. Look for fast aperture (lower F stop number) quality lenses.

Consider portability and (total please) costs.

Consider the feel you prefer.

Get a “fun” camera that encourages usage.

You’re looking for total combined benefits (that matter), not just one. you want to be able to do as many types of situations of styles of photography that you can. Do not fall for the idea, of one expensive piece of gear, per scene type.

If you can’t find a camera that’s complete (for you), then use an old one; until the manufacturers fill the need. Else they never will. Piece-meal, simply makes manufacturers more money and disadvantages your combined abilities (like too much carry size, and weight(s); for a camera that’s summarily rejected at events).

i’d say Canon products gives less price (but its still expensive) for a reason (same goes for nikon give more price for a reason)

the bright side of canon is that one can quickly get their hands on a (lets say) DSLR and start learning photography faster than those who wait a bit more to buy nikon. their lenses is cheaper so like the camera, people could quickly feel how the lenses differ one to another.

But then again, in the country where i live ( Indonesia ) MOST people only care about feature (guess who’s the winner… lol ) while looking at the price tag… so it’s like “if i can get 1 with so many feature with less money, why not?” kind of thinking thats been going on a lot here… personally, i hate that kind of thinking… because, like i said, everything is priced for a reason. Thats why i go with Nikon, not just because of build quality or anything, but a lot of my Canon comrade confess that Nikon lenses are very good. The only reason (again in here where i live) people buy Canon is because of price.

please dont get me wrong, Canon is very good, but i just favor Nikon more.

conclusion (IMHO) :

if you want to learn photography with tight budget, go buy Canon.
if you want to learn photography with quality in mind look for Nikon.
they dont differ the price that much anyway…

biased? well once again… its my opinion… pardon me