Originally posted by DeadJohn If AF tests used software to measure sharpness, that would encourage manufacturers to apply ridiculous levels of sharpening within camera firmware.
That shouldn't be an issue.
Any serious test would calibrate sharpness using a static test target and an appropriate sharpness setting. AF results are then normalized wrt a reference value. This must be done anyway because cameras have differing resolutions / AA filters. One possible reference value could be 2300 LW/PH (8MP). RAW is to be avoided to use the full buffer size. E.g., the FNAC labo test for the D4 is a failure because obviously they filled the buffer way before the target got close.