"Real scientific research relies upon peer review and the fundamental concept that the results are repeatable and reproducible. DxO may very well be conducting very rigorous tests, but unless they are completely transparent regarding their testing methods, some level of skepticism is valid and in fact healthy.
I can also understand and appreciate if DxO views their methods as intellectual property and a competitive advantage. They are, as far as I know, a for-profit entity and seem to be acting as such. So lacking that, all the public has to go on is how DxO results compare to the results of other testing labs and people's experience in the field.
But right now DxO is the 800 pound gorilla - their results are more widely publicized and cited online than any other testing lab, so many view the results as the final word, when in fact they aren't."
For some time I've been trying to find out, with no success, how DxO carry out their tests. (If anyway has a link for this let me know and I'll publish it.) As John says their results are widely quoted and given a great deal of importance.
But who exactly are DxO? How do they conduct these tests? What do their numbers mean? Why should we trust their results? Why have they suddenly become so prominent?
I have been told they conduct their sensor tests without a lens. So just how useful is this?
They may well be providing useful information for us all, but without some idea of how they obtain this, how is it to be trusted?
And trusted it is by many. And quoted often. But how many people actually understand it?
Their results are often used by people to help decide on which camera to buy. But should they? I'm curious about this. I have often been described as a DxO basher! I'm not, I'm just baffled as to why something that seems to be both incomprehensible and vaguely mysterious is quoted by so many, so often.
If anyone would like to help unravel some of this, I'd be happy to publish it.
