Capture One fail

In any testing and comparison procedure, one of the main things you need to do is to make sure your results are consistent and reproducible. This is why you use the default settings as opposed to optimising for "best" results.

The problem with the "best result" approach is:

1) the results vary depending on the person doing the optimization, and also based on the size/quality/calibration of that person's monitor

2) different people will have different opinions about "best"

3) the result becomes subjective

This does not mean the objective approach is without shortcomings; as many people have complained here, default settings do not bring out the best of the software. But DPReview has to weigh both approaches and decide; either way, you can't please everyone.

Personally, I am also slightly disappointed by the results published by DPReview. While the watercolor foliage issue appears to be mostly handled well, I do not like the crosshatch-like artifacts rendered on fine uniform detail in the studio scene, these look a lot harder to clean up than regular moire patterns.