Reminder: Vote now for your product of 2013

How can the average DPReview reader do any more than accept the findings of this site's reviewers (for these products), or comments from other Internet sources? I've certainly not had the chance to test any of these cameras or lenses and do not own any of them. I might think that these cameras look pretty, and probably perform well, but I could easily be unhappy about the price or availability of accessories or chipped batteries. I might also find the company's after sales service second rate - which is not unusual these days. Really, this is not the right way to go about doing a fair polll that has any value or meaning. It needs to be hands-on and retrospective.

Let me add that I have no appreciation for DPR for wasting their time and space on something as stupid as this.

I still dispute the misleading notion the X100s should even be in the 'compact' category in the first place. It's even bigger than an m4/3 camera like the GX7, or even the OM-D body without the prism. Compact is not even a relative term for 'smallish' open to interpretation - the very least definition of a compact camera is shirt-pocketable, which the X100s is most certainly not by any stretch of the imagination.

I don't see why all the negativity on this comment board.

Basically Dpreview made previous Polls that categorized photography products pretty well (Best SLR, Best Mirrorless, Best Lens..) for all those who want that categorization they can go there and check it out.

This one particular poll does serve a purpose. It, in a way, reveals future camera industry tends. So far from the polls it seems consumers really want fast zooms (a la Sigma F1.8), prefer better camera features over sensor size (Pentax K3 beating FF SLRs and E-M1 beating Sony A7) and mirrorless seems to be the future trend (EM-5 winning last year and E-M1 seems to have it in the bag this year).

I really wish people would show more appreciation to Dpreview for making such a poll instead of whining. If you don't like it don't read it. Having said that, it is actually clear why people whine. Just because your Nikon D7100, or your Sony A7r, or whatever make or brand didn't make it you shouldn't act like a child about it.

Not sure what the point of this very restricted poll is. Who will benefit from it? Maybe the advertising companies promoting these products, but I really can't see any point in voting.

GX 7

For myself,these polls are about as lame as "what the duck". Oooof ...

I like these polls mainly for the readers comments I find them very amusing.

no need to vote
all you have to do is look at the 'own it' number and thats your winner
olympus? really?

by time this poll is over the products here will be discontinued

Where's the "None of the above" option?

Bodies come and go (faster and faster). That lens will be here for a long time, and is a game-changer.

Upcoming poll: Hammer - vs- Screwdriver? Which is the BEST?

If these are the "best of 2013" it's clearly not been a banner year for cameras.

With the EM-1 you get free shutter shock and one of the smallest sensors for any crop sensor camera. The X100s took the excellent X100 and saddled it with X-Trans RAW conversion issues, and the K-3 is an excellent APS-C camera at a time when most advanced amateurs and professionals are shooting FF.

These polls give DPR another tool for advertiser banners like "DPR Reader's Poll Best of 2103" that we see in magazines and e-commerce sites. So in a sense they symbolize the growing commercialization of this website. Content like this is ultimately tied to Gear Shop which is fine if that's the direction they want to go, but kind of a turn off for readers.

Boring.

'Clickbait', as someone said in another post.

And perhaps a desperate ploy to get Canon or Nikon back in the headlines ...

@Lucas:

These 5 alternatives are there because they were selected before by the DPR readership to be the best in their respective category.

Of course the A7 twins are superb cameras, IQ wise especially, but obviously other characters of gear also took place in folk´s minds while making their choices. And, frankly, the m4/3 system as a whole is way more mature than the A7 w its dedicated lenses, so far, and will so continue to be a fair amount of time from now. From that we may assume that choosing the E-M1 as "best" wasn´t ONLY because the camera in itself is very good, but also because it can within its system be considered a better choice for a larger number of people than would the A7 in its present system context. Even the dedidacted lenses will, to a fair degree, offset at least a part of the benefit the camera´s small dimensions offer...

Just my thoughts, not supposed to be considered The Absolute Truth about this matter!

What happened to the outstanding Sony A7R/A7? AFAIK they're launched in 2013 and blew the socks off any other mirrorless camera ( and many DSLR/SLTs, only loosing in AF speed ). Are they being considered 2014 models?
Anyway, if those two were not considered, I'd vote for for the Olympus OM-D E-M1, with a close second for the Sony RX100II. I don't think I'd buy the Oly though, it should be at least 20MP.

Think I'll go for the delightful, though unlisted, Pana GM-1.

The many times this poll gets re-used redefines "rumination".

Obvioiusly no coincidence that there isn't a single Canikon product that could even win its own category. Of course it doesn't help that Canikon has no idea how to do mirrorless, though it's not long they ever had a ghost of a chance to win that category no matter what they did, considering the E-M1 and A7R,

Oly wins two years in a row. Sony the year before that. I doubt you'll ever see a DSLR win camera of the year ever again.