I was just looking at Snappytom's thread - http://www.ausphotography.net.au/for...ad.php?t=65709 - and thinking about his question - he wants to know what brand we would go for today if we were just starting out in photography.

It's a good question, but I fear he will simply get answers that reflect the prevailing market shares of the major brands - i.e., all the Nikon owners will recommend Nikon, all the Olympus owners will recommend Olympus, and so on.

So my question is a little different. What other brand would you go for? Pick any brand you like, except the brand you shoot.