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Thanks to the laboratories, journalists from Digital perform tests that establish the strengths and weaknesses of a product. To achieve this, “labs” are essential. Precisely, that of the Photo section undergoes a new overhaul in depth.
The photo test scene ready to use. © Guillaume du Mesgnil d’Engente / Digital
Every day, many products are tested by the editorial staff Digital. To achieve this, our laboratories are the essential elements that allow us to build our tests. For everything related to images, the laboratory in the Photo section plays a major role, where products from the Telephony, Home and IT sections also regularly pass.
Regular evolutions
With the years and technologies evolving, it is impossible to rest on one’s laurels, labs and other test protocols must adapt and modernize. Exactly, changes, the photo lab has experienced over time. In 2016, we introduced our new test scene, while camera lens testing procedures changed dramatically in 2019 — to name a few examples.
If the illuminations of the staff seem positioned asymmetrically, their precise adjustment allows a homogeneous illumination of the surface. © Guillaume du Mesgnil d’Engente / Digital
Worse, a small disaster in 2021 forced our hand for a new change, directly on our stage this time. Completely broken, the bottle of oil which sat near the center of the stage and which accompanied us for more than 15 years has been replaced by photo portraits, useful for recognizing faces.
A brand new lab
With a change of premises in June 2022, the laboratories benefit from new improvements. For the direct benefit of the editorial teams, a higher ceiling height, a wider and slightly longer surface make for greater convenience. Moving around without stepping on it and being able to work long hours in a less cramped and better lit space changes a lot of things, take our word for it!
The bench has no use in the test protocols. © Guillaume du Mesgnil d’Engente / Digital
Of course, more space means greater potential for evolution, because we always want to improve certain test processes or develop new ones. For example, the question of photo stabilization or rolling-shutter — deformation during movement of the device or the subject in photo or video — are among our targets.
Hardware is changing too.
On the other hand, based on our experience, we have created a more rational space with more efficient material management. Team comfort has been improved, as has the reliability of certain protocols. With the previous, smaller space, it was not uncommon to have to readjust the lights because of a slight involuntary jostling…
Goodbye wiring and other tripods, we will not miss you. © Guillaume du Mesgnil d’Engente / Digital
Precisely, we find these insights among the important changes. Our old Led panels are therefore recycled and replaced by Godox projectors. Far too capricious, the Philips Hue bulbs used for our low-light tests have also been shelved. More power, more precise settings, more homogeneous light distribution or better reliability, we gain on all counts.
The photo rating will change!
Finally, significant changes are to be expected in camera test protocols. If the lens tests have already been entitled to their reform, the camera tests, and more particularly those of hybrids, must still undergo a significant overhaul to face an increasingly demanding market.
The photo test scene in action. © Guillaume du Mesgnil d’Engente / Digital
If we obviously keep what works very well and the changes made little by little — such as the use of raw files — will obviously be renewed, the rating system will no longer be the same. To do this, we are partly separating from the functioning of the current subnotes for a new distribution:
- Getting started : includes the construction of the device, its ergonomics as well as a part concerning autonomy.
- Reactivity & focus : the video part is treated in its own right, while the new types of autofocus are better taken into account.
- Image quality : each criterion has its role to play, the video part is no longer in a separate category.
- Picture Mode and video mode : we separate the photo and video modes into two very distinct sub-notes. The best video boxes will be able to compete with the rest of the market.
As you have understood, taking into account the video part is more important than ever. It is now up to the manufacturers to offer us a camera oriented photo, video or general purpose. Finally, more than 300 control points are now used for camera tests.
Smartphones are among the main products to be tested in the photo lab in addition to more traditional cameras. © Guillaume du Mesgnil d’Engente / Digital
Nearly 15 different products go through the photo lab
Our new test procedure is already applied internally, but not yet deployed for the reader. In order to finalize several tests and additional adjustments, it will still be necessary to wait before seeing the changes arrive on new photo tests. Our comparisons will then be gradually updated to establish a new, much more precise classification between the devices.
If hybrid, reflex or compact cameras, lenses, action-cams, memory cards, printers and bulbs, smartphones, surveillance cameras or other drones pass through the photo laboratory, other products undergo very different tests thanks to the laboratory in the Home section or the one in the Image & Sound sections. They too have benefited from a major transformation. We will show them to you soon.
The photo lab almost from end to end with the regular lighting on. © Guillaume du Mesgnil d’Engente / Digital