Hi all. I'm quite new to this photography thing, so feel free to correct me anythime.
For 'real' shooters (u know who u are), i'll say stick to Nikon and Canon. U know they'll be around 10 years down the road (fyi Minolta just bit the dust) and U know they are the best to invest in a dSLR and of course, the 100 ga-zillion lenses, flashes, this-ses, that-ses available.
From my limited knowledge (I only have a Powershot A530, whis is great btw. Go Canon compacts!)
Canon - Awesome Auto Focus. Super for sports and moving stuff. And picture quality. But needs to be 'babied' a lot. Best for sports and studio photography.
Nikon - For everything else, there is Nikon =P Nikon's exposure and metering is spot on (ages ahead of Canon). And the highly sought after 18-200mm VR lens =P
Olympus is a far third.
Cheap dSLRs DO NOT suck at high ISOs. FYI the Nikon D40 does NOT have ISO 100. It starts at 200. And the D40 is the best u can get unless u can afford a D200 (which is a LOT more).
All in all, it's not the camera, it's the photographer.
just to share.
KenRockwell.com
read all about it here, and all about photography. hope it makes us all better in the end =)