DPR count the votes.

...and the Best Camera of 2012 is link

Now an MZ-D would make my year.

Best regards

This unequivocally proves it: DPR has slightly more Oly fanboys than it has Nikon fanboys than it has Canon fanboys.

An interesting result none-the-less.

I tend not to subscribe to the conspiracy theory mind set

I really wish Pentax would release a retro style camera along these lines.

Damian McGillicuddy (who changed systems and now shoots with the OM-D) ........ a professional photographer decorated five times as the best in the UK :
"Olympus sent me an OM-D even though I had no intention of changing kit. But I opened the parcel and it had some nice shiny thing in it, so I got magpie syndrome and took it out."
"I didn't actually want it to work when I first saw it, 'cos it sort of dismantled my professional beliefs. But then I started using it and thought, 'It is rather good isn't it?' and, almost begrudgingly, it won me over".

The fact that Pentax sold twice as many Q's (No: 8 ) in Japan
last year (2012) as Olympus sold OM-D EM-5's (No: 12) shows
what nonsense this poll is.

The K-30 (13th DSLR's) and K-5 (14th DSLR's) both
individually sold more than the other
two (15th & 20th)

-

Polls are generally useless as they are only answered by people interested in some aspect of the poll. There is no randomness in a poll that leaves participation up to the voter.

All it can really be looked upon is as a bit of fun.

I'm not sure that this poll has anything to do with sales in Japan, I've looked for a link or connection but can't find one
I agree that to a degree it is a bit of fun but I think it would be churlish to suggest there isn't also an underlying trend.
Compact and genuinely small/light kit as a tool to produce quality images is drawing more and more enthusiast and pro-photographers.

The poll has nothing to do with sales, period. It's the best camera, not the biggest selling. The two aren't necessarily linked, or you'd conclude that some crummy Vivitar P&S sold for £29.99 in Tesco is a better camera than, say, a 645D....

... It's not even 'best image quality'... there are other parameters like innovation, usability, design which come into play... which you have to admit the EM5 has in spades.

I 100% agree on both counts.

The problem is that it's anecdotal. Yes, many people say this, but is it borne out by what people are actually buying? If we do a poll to ask then the voters are self-selecting, which is what I meant by there being no randomness to the sample. What do we mean by more and more?

The manufacturers will do market research to assist them in planning, but the results will depend on who is asked, what exactly they are asked and who will actually stop to answer. Nobody asks those who say "not now" and walk off, but for all we know they might be the camera buyers.

When TV sets were 4:3 a TV company asked the public if they preferred seeing films converted to 4:3 or as 16:9 and explained the latter as "you know, when you get black bands at the top and bottom of the screen". How many do you think simply voted to have the image as 4:3, simply because "well we don't want black bands on the screen, we'll lose half the picture" without actually understanding the question? As it happens we now have widescreen anyway, but the point is there as an example of misunderstood information.

Is it really anecdotal?
Why would pretty much all major the camera manufacturers invest serious money trying to hop on the mirrorless interchangeable lens camera bandwagon?
Even Pentax has had a couple of goes at it and no doubt future offerings may be closer to the mark.

As I said before it is a bit of fun but there is also an underlying trend going on, you really don't have to look far on other photography enthusiast sites to see this.

How many of those voting actually owned or have used those cameras???

Its a similar issue to forums when someone asks what lens or body to buy? Most people answering only express opinion about the one lens or body they bought without being able to compare it against any other body or lens as they have nothing similar to compare it too. But as that person bought one the need to justify it as being a good purchase is necessary.

Post-purchase rationalization (buyers stockholm syndrome) is an interesting study and worth a google if anyone is interested in that kind of thing.

I might think the fuji x-1 pro is the best camera - just because I don't buy it doesn't mean I don't think it's the best - that sort of thinking is a red herring.

As it happens I do like the sound/look of the fuji but I am too heavily invested in Pentax/Canon and the lens range is a bit limited at present.

Doesn't mean I could not vote for the fuji just because I haven't bought one/looking to buy one.