They do a good job at what they do and not such a good job of describing what they do. They test at a moderate distance--35X the focal length--and at this distance only. The MTF is at MTF 50 only and is an average of sagital and tangential MTF. They test only at specific spots in the centre, border, and sometimes the extreme corners. All of these decisions are fine given their limited resources, but they limit the value of the MTF data in several important ways. They test for distortion, which seems to be captured well by their tests. They test for lateral CA, which seems not to work very well at all in their tests. They take a few sample shots, which are nice and often they test a lens for bokeh with one specific set up and report on the bokeh characteristics including bokeh CA. These bokeh tests are often interesting, but limited to the one distance they test. So you can learn a bit from these tests, but there is a lot you can't learn from them as well. Still with no knowledge of the new Fuji lenses, I would be eager to see the tests for what you can learn and right now we know very little. Still I am not going to kid myself and think they provide a comprehensive view of the lenses either.
jcolwell wrote:
Despite a lot of noise I hear on the internet, I think Klaus and his gang do a fine job!
+1
No matter which testing method you choose, it'll always have some inherent advantages and disadvantages. Therefore I think that the best way to collect info about a specific lens is to gather it from several different sources.
I guess they're not being paid for what they're doing, so we should be grateful for getting all that we're getting, FOR FREE.
Speaking OT, the Fuji system is still piquing my interest, despite some early warnings and a vestigial Sony NEX system present in the household. Will be waiting for tests.
I do not think they do a bad job, but I think they should also underline the test conditions. The biggest problem I have is with people taking the tests for what they are not - a complete test of the lenses, and yelling the results all over the net. But, that's not photozone's fault.
Interesting to see the results for the Fuji lenses - at least the longer ones would be interesting since they would test at distances I usually se them.
slungu wrote:
The biggest problem I have is with people taking the tests for what they are not - a complete test of the lenses, and yelling the results all over the net. But, that not photozone's fault.
