DPReview test reliability

Looking at the DPR test pictures of NX models made me think about the lenses DPR uses in these tests.

Not sure if these tests are performed with the same lens (e.g. all the time with the same 30mm lens) or if they are performed with the kit lens that comes with the body. The results may much differ from the lens not only form the body.

I can see several NX bodies are tested with a Pentax 50mm lens. I do not have a Pentax lens, so what will the test tell me about the image quality I can expect from a Samsung NX? How will it relate to the image quality it produes with a kit lens? Hard to tell.

Strangely enough Canons are tested with Canon Lneses, Nikons with Nikon. Why is Samsung tested with non-Samsung glasses?

If testers would like to see the difference among NX sensors then probably they should use the same lens and apply that one copy on all bodies. I doubt they stocked a lens for that purpose and use it only for test purposes.

I guess it is more common they buy a new NX model with its kit lens ad test it. Then we see

NX500 seems to beat NX1 in the right below corner? Or was just the lens different. Or was just the focus set differently? (As per info the lens was the same, so there must be some focus setting issue. or a different copy of the same lens was used?)

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/image-comparison?attr18=daylight&attr13_0=samsung_nx500&attr13_1=samsung_nx1&attr13_2=samsung_nx300&attr13_3=samsung_galaxynx&attr15_0=jpeg&attr15_1=jpeg&attr15_2=jpeg&attr15_3=jpeg&attr16_0=200&attr16_1=200&attr16_2=200&attr16_3=200&normalization=full&widget=1&x=0.658288448115366&y=-0.9901886792467164

NX300 seems to beat Galaxy NX in the right below corner? Or was just the lens different. Or was just the focus set fifferently? (As per info the lens was the same)

But more oddly, take a look at this comparison where NX mini seems to excel:

Can a 200 EUR body beat an 1000 EUR Galaxy NX? Probably not - not in real life. In the test it can clearly seem much better:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/image-comparison?attr18=daylight&attr13_0=samsung_nxmini&attr13_1=samsung_nx30&attr13_2=samsung_nx300&attr13_3=samsung_galaxynx&attr15_0=jpeg&attr15_1=jpeg&attr15_2=jpeg&attr15_3=jpeg&attr16_0=200&attr16_1=200&attr16_2=200&attr16_3=200&normalization=full&widget=1&x=0.658288448115366&y=-0.9901886792467164

NX30 and Galaxy NX are pretty much siblings. Yet if you check the lens difference in the info, then you can see how much the image depends form the lens and what difference it can cause in image quality. The lens applied on NX30 is "unknown"... ... well not a good sign if we would like to compare apples to apples. Galany NX had the Pentax lens on...  ... well not the obvious choice for any NX user.

I thought the test results are a pretty good thumbrule, now I got confused and do not believe any more in its power and in its comparability.

But more oddly, take a look at this comparison where NX mini seems to excel:

I've just bought an NX Mini partially based on the studio test shown here. I know my eyes are getting old but its performance is exceptional in the studio scene. Now that the battery is finally charged I'm looking forward to getting out tomorrow and firing off some shots for myself.

Recently, Camera Store TV did a review of the NX500 where they noted that the NX500 was more detailed than the NX1 but also had more noise, which not so oddly enough matches the studio test results posted by DPR.  I speculate that it's possible that the NX1 might apply a tiny bit of noise reduction in raw, which could account for the difference despite the supposedly identical sensor...

Recently, Camera Store TV did a review of the NX500 where they noted that the NX500 was more detailed than the NX1 but also had more noise, which not so oddly enough matches the studio test results posted by DPR.  I speculate that it's possible that the NX1 might apply a tiny bit of noise reduction in raw, which could account for the difference despite the supposedly identical sensor...

It could also be FW variations depending on when each test took place. Samsung may have altered the RAW processing along the way.