Are brands like olympus and pentax as good as canon and sony camera-wise?

I'm getting a camera for christmas this year and i'm looking at every camera from every brand between $500-$700.everyone knows canon and nikon as the popular dslr brand, but lately i've been looking into the sony alphas, and olympus models. So given the price range, which brand/model would you suggest i get?

Sony is relatively new to still cameras especially dSLRs. Olympus has been around for a while now. Pentax, a brand easily recognized by the most experienced photographers, has been battling it out with Canon and Nikon even before the last world war.

Familiarity-wise, Canon is top worldwide with Nikon preferred more by professionals. Pentax is most popular in Europe (I think) while Sony is recognized in Asia. As for build quality, Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Sony are all great. Overall, those who can afford buy Canon. Those who are technical get a Nikon. Those who love small packages get an Olympus. Those who are impressed by form or design and want to be different go for a Sony. Those who don't have much money or don't care about cutting-edge technology and love using old lenses get a Pentax.

I'd disagree with Luis. Just because a car is named "car of the year" doesn't mean it won't fall apart
within a couple of years. These "camera of the year" awards are based on initial quality - not longevity.
Canon is a record that goes back decades for building quality, long lasting equipment. Frankly they're the best out there.

I recommend what I own and know.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/...S_SLR.html

I've had mine for over a year - you won't be sorry with this camera.

Considering that the Pentax Kx won entry level DSLR of the year

http://www.tipa.com/english/award-details.php?iId=1768&sAward=Best+DSLR+Entry+Level

and the newly introduced Pentax K-5 is the highest ranking APC-S DSLR on DXOMARK ( Ranking even higher than some fullframe DSLR's)

http://www.dxomark.com/...r-rankings

I would say that Pentax builds pretty good cameras.

Pentax has been in business since 1957, building the first true SLR. Their quality has been recognized many times.

http://cheapdslrprofessional.blogspot.com/