Originally posted by kenafein I am aware of the FF issue, but either canon and Nikon really are the best, or they always score on top. I am surprised to see that figure for the Zeiss though.
Not always - again, see the 50-55mm range. The DA*55 scores 20. This is in comparison to the Sigma 50 on D7000 (20), Nikon 50 1.4G on D7000 (20), Canon 50 EF 1.4 on 7D (19), Canon EF 50 1.8 II on 7D (19), Nikon 50 1.4D (20) on D7000, and Nikon 50 1.8D (17) on D7000. So if we're talking about scoring on the DXO site, when set to APS-C with 16 or 18MP sensors, Pentax can come out quite well. Another case in point is the DA*300 F4 (15) vs the Canon 300 F4L (11).
If we look at individual scores the DA*55 scores 8MP on sharpness, while the Nikon 50 F1.4G scores 10MP. However, the DA*55 is stated to perform better at F2 vs the 50 1.4 at F2.8. I'm not intelligent enough to understand why DXO scores the DA*55 at 20, but they do - and that puts the DA*55 equal or better than the other 50mm lenses.
If we're looking at all the lenses made, Pentax's highest scoring lens is the DA*55 at 20. Nikon has their 85 1.4G (25), 85 1.8G (25), and 35 1.8G (22) scoring higher than 20. Canon has their 35 F2 (22), and the 85 F1.2L (21) scoring higher than 20. If you actually try to go through the list of lenses, you'll see that Pentax doesn't actually go so bad. In fact, if Pentax made a DA*85 F1.4 or a DA*35 F2 of very good optical quality, we could have equal lenses to Nikon/Canon.
Also, it is humorous that on the D7000 and the 7D, the highest scoring lens right now is the Sigma 35 F1.4, beating the Nikon 85 1.8G by 1, and beating the Canon 35 F2 by 1.