DXOMark how good.

[Lance B]

Sure they did ( not those two specifically :-)) but it was all still done. And the best did it with gear that wouldn't even reach the bottom of the scale now. The gear they used wasn't what made them icons, and it won't be what does they same for anyone reading a dxomark score.

And most of it was pretty terrible compared to todays high quality images. The stuff that we see now from the modern cameras of birds, animals, fashion, landscapes etc would blast the previous images that you talk about into the weeds. The point is not so much that you may be able to get decent images with yesteryears cameras, just that it can be done so much easier and most importantly, it performs when you want it to and will rarely if ever let you down. That cannot be said for the old film style cameras. There is no doubting this fact.

Note, I'm agreeing with the consensus here, just saying that in the grand scheme of things I believe a score to be pretty insignificant. A full frame sensor and L glass has sure made my life easier on the technical side, but capture the imagination of your audience and they don't care one iota if there's a bit of vignetting out wide. In fact, it's ironic that with today's fantastic optics people will add vignetting or an out of date film effect. Again, I'm not saying I don't like them, just observing the irony.

I think you're mixing up two basically different styles to photography. There are those photos that do not need high quality technical results to make them work, mainly just relying on light, composition and subject matter/story. Henri Cartier Bresson would not care much about the camera he uses but he wouldn't need to with the photos he takes and the effect he wants to portray. However, there are those photos that most certainly do require high quality technical aspects to them, where resolution, colour accuracy, high ISO noise quality etc is of paramount importance, like I mentioned, birding, animals, fashion, landscapes etc. This is where the current crop of cameras excel. This cannot be disputed and this is what DXO Mark et al are about. The point is, if you have the hi res super fast focusing camera of today, it is easier to make the photo retro look by adding vignetting and adding noise or going B&W than it is by using a manually focusing camera and trying to sharpen up a blurry shot or removing the noise, or changing ISO mid-shoot, or whatever.

[Hamster]

...There is no doubting this fact. ....This cannot be disputed....

I'm afraid you appear to be responding to far less subtle points than the ones I was actually making. But that's OK because, despite you helpfully pointing out the bits I shouldn't bother disagreeing with, I can see that we have (subtly) differing opinions on the subject. And isn't that great because life would be so boring if we all had the same opinions. If it helps, I can tell you that I agree with the bloke who wrote post #5

[Arg]

When considering purchasing lens or body, do you use DxOMARK or similar objective measurement publications to help you arrive at a decision? Are there others that you can recommend.
I am impressed with DxOMARK, but am not sure whether my trust is misplaced.

If you always buy the models with the latest, gushiest reviews and the best measurements on internet test sites, at least there will be some interest when it's time to sell on ebay (when an even better model with even better measurements is released).

If you don't care about resale, however, then listen to no-one. Your needs and sensitivities are yours alone. You might be driven mad by a certain handgrip -- but your friend recommends the camera because he has numb meataxes for hands and would only comment if the camera actually fell from his grip. Who cares if the sensor would have allowed you to shoot at 1/2 stop slower ISO, if you kinda like the look of ISO6000 and never go that high anyway? Who cares if the corners are slightly softer at f/2, when you are happy to use it at f/5.6 where it is pin sharp? Know what photos you want to make, then shop by feature set that will deliver your photos, to a budget.

Within the limits of 'get what you pay for', they all deliver as per the feature set. Anyway, if you are into a camera system, it's no joke to swap systems. Then what: the company you just sold out of releases a new model that beats on score the model (and system) you just bought into (at great cost)? Now what?

As for DxOMark specifically, no I don't like it. Sometimes their numbers are wrong - rarely, but how do you know whether the specific number you are looking at isn't one of the few wrong ones? And when right, they are very misleading at the aggregate levels. More fights online over DxOMark scores than any other site. That tells me that they could have done it better -- much better.