As always it's definately not about the latest and newest camera technology that's available but more about understanding how photography works and what techniques make a good photo. SideshowBob has some good examples of what works photographically and I can tell be his technique that they weren't just "point and shoot" pictures but pictures that were carefully thought out.
I personally like a camera the easily allows manual focusing, aperture and shutter speed adjustments and that comes from most full bodied D-SLRs. Currently I shoot with the following Nikon D-SLR cameras: a D1x, a D300 and a D90. Each of them accomodate manual adjustments very easily.
Don't get me wrong I do shoot on automatic sometimes and almost always use auto-focus but when you have to get a money shot and you only have one chance, like at a National Enduro when you only get to see Mike Lafferty in action maybe three times in a day, you better make sure the picture has most of the elements that work or your going to be dissapointed.
One of my favorite digitial cameras ever is the Nikon D70 or D70s. Its no longer being built but it has all of the controls that allow easy overiding of the automatic controls when that's necessary. You normally can find one on E-bay for under $300.
