I know! The title of this article does not sound that inspiring.
This is more an explanation of our reasons for the way we test products.
First off. We are photographers, we work in the real world. When we test a piece of equipment we use it under ‘normal’ conditions, the sky may not be blue with the relevant quota of fluffy white clouds, it may be flat grey and dull. In a lot of ways for a filter test this can be ideal, a grey sky will give an indication to the neutrality of a filter. We photograph Eastbourne Pier a great deal, but this is ideal to prove sharpness and evenness of a lens or filter.
Lighting gets tested in a studio with white walls. Again, it proves how well colour balanced the units are and how even they distribute their light output.
Batteries get charged, used in camera (or other device) for a few dozen shots or hours depending upon application, the batteries are left idle for a day or so to check on power loss when not in use. After all this is how how batteries get treated in real life!
Bags and cases get stuffed to the gills, then lugged all over the place. If cases state they are water tight, we will test the validity of the claim.
It may be said that our methods are not very scientific. They are not meant to be! Our aim is to give the test equipment the same treatment as it would get under normal conditions.
Secondly. We aim to give a fair and honest opinion of the equipment we get the chance to review. There is no point giving a good review when it is clearly untrue, it is a bad witness for us and for the product. We are happy to work with manufacturers and distributors, after all a truthful review will help all concerned. We have tested equipment that has had a glowing review elsewhere only to be disappointed with our own results. if we have doubts, we will always re test and double check our method of testing ( after all we are only human!)
Thirdly. We do not earn an income from our testing and subsequently published reviews, we test and write the reviews out of genuine interest in the equipment. We enjoy what we do.