I like all the cameras listed, as all are meant for Professional usage. It is not suited for a hobbyist because of it's high cost.

Nikon and Canon are the popular brand of digital cameras which gives perfect picture.

For the medium range camera (cost & performance), I recommend Cannon Powershot SX 110 IS. This new model 9 MP camera has an ultra zoom 10x Optical with image stabilisation feature and costs around Rs 17,000. It has 3 inch LCD monitor, face & motion detection, Digic III, 2 AA batteries (400 images), ISO Auto to 1600, 3 m flash range, 1.2 shots/s continuos shooting, movie recording (640*480 @ 30 fps), 245 g.

The largest zoom bearing model is from OlympusSP-570UZ -10 MP, TruePic III Image processor, 2.7-inch high-definition LCD monitor to view subject, 20x Optical camera with wide angle of 26 mm. It has advanced Dual Image Stabilization function to ensure sharp images without blurring, as well as Face Detection Technology allows you to smartly capture both faces and background with Shadow Adjustment Technology. One can have 1 cm super micro photography, high-speed sequential shooting up to 30 frames at 13.5 fps (in 3-megapixel mode), Movie Recording with Sound, 390-Shot Battery Life with 4 "AA" Alkaline Batteries etc using this camera.

Nikon P80 is a 10 MP camera with 18x Optical zoom having astonishingly large features at a reasonable price.

One main drawback of Olympus cameras is the proprietary XD memory cards. The XD memory cards are costly, shortage in markets, slow in performance. A 1 GB XD card costs Rs 1500, while a 2 GB XD card costs Rs 3000. There is no write protection option for the data. It comes with 1 year warranty.

There is no warranty on data stored on cards. Company warranties customers about the possible data loss. One has to copy the photos taken to a more secure hard disk.