In my case, the brand loyalty factor was minimal to none...I tried to look at the "upgrade" as objectively as possible as the upgrade fund was precious and it's not like I'm a professional photographer with a lot of lenses.
The more I looked into it the more I started to see through the marketing and technological fluff. For the most part, most of the units for sale are in the same ball park. There are differences for sure, some might show prettier pictures on their LCD screen, but that doesn't necessarily give a better end result...each come with their own set of pros and cons as an imaging platform, and it's up to the "artist" to understand their equipment, play to its strengths and make what they will of the results.
My modded 1100D will still play an active role...I'm planning mod v2 even
for what it cost me, and the enjoyment of working on the little beastie, it's worth the entry price.
FWIW, my point-and-shoot is a Fujifilm X-E1 which has excellent low-light behaviour, and I do use it for nightscapes and ultra-wide shots, but the lack of automation (besides an intervalometer) precludes it from becoming part of the next step in my imaging. It also happens to take stunning daytime shots
