grasses ~ St. Huberts, NY - in the Adirondack PARK
autumn backyard ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARk
Going on the assumption (and it's a valid one) that every "enthusiast" camera is capable of producing very high-quality picture files, all a camera purchaser really needs to determine is whether a specific camera manufacturer has a line of lenses which are suitable for implementing a picture maker's vision.
There are other considerations to ponder, the most important of which - how a given camera feels in a user's hand. Unfortunately, with the dearth of locally owned and operated camera stores, the only method of determining that feel is to find a rental site which has the camera of one's choice availble for rental.
If someone were to tell me he/she was just starting out on the road to "getting serious" about his/her picture making and wanted to know what camera to acquire, my suggetion would be to find a decent used (or a refurb) low-end enthusiast camera which seems to be to his/her liking. Then start making pictures in the effort to discover, define and refine one's vision. That is, what it is one wants to illustrate and, ideally, illuminate with his/her practice of the picture making arts.
Ultimately, if one desires to get beyond the point where making a technically good photography is no longer enough - the point where Brooks Jensen writes "that real photography starts and most photographers quit", the only thing worth pursuing is discovering that which pricks your eye and sensibilities. And, most emphatically, not the quest for the perfect "camera".