Canon=excellent on your pocket
Nikon=excellent lenses
Sony=Utter rubbish
Leica, Hasselblad=burning an oversized hole in your pocket
For your standard, I will strongly recommend Canon G12 PnS. Its point and shoot, but it has certain features of dslr (manual tuning, etc)
Personally I have my 400D, and I love it.
RIP..
You've got to be prepared to die making such statements..