Canon 7D 19.0 MP Digital SLR Camera - Black (Kit w/ Canon EF-S 18-135mm IS Lens)

The camera was set at 250 ISO, set to "Program", had a genuine external Canon flash, auto focus, and set to the largest file size.
out of 65 portraits none of the pictures were sharp, some were quite blurry. Most the pictures were noisy.
The colours were average at best, the exposure was OK.
The editing programs that came with it were better than Nikon and Sony but still a little lacking.
The layout of the camera was beautiful and much better than Nikon and Sony. Access to settings and controls is quick and easy.
Of the 3 camera's I've mentioned and use the Sony A550 is still the best.
My guess would be that Canon have tried to crank up the Megapixels at the expense of quality.
I have only had the camera a short while and perhaps experimenting with the ISO and file size settings will improve the picture quality. However the reason why I bought this camera was to be able to concentrate on the subject and not constantly worry that the camera is getting it right. This has been true for all three camera's mentioned.
Please consider that taking pictures of lanscapes, airoplanes, boats, pets etc is 90% easier than taking portraits, particularly when you only get one go at it, and are obliged to get it right because people are paying for the end product.
Getting skin tones and exposure right in portraits is the holy grail of photography. This camera/lens got close most the time but was mostly let down by the blurry, noisy pictures.
If there is a camera that had no gadgets but took beautiful pictures, then that is the camera for me.
There is a big argument for where the worst product is produced by companies that listen least to consumers.
I hope all the camera manufacturers are listening so I can concentrate on what my subject is doing and not the camera.