Why ISO1600 is not ISO1600 is not ISO1600

Low light/high ISO performance is the new megapickle. Whenever a new camera is announced, one of the first questions is, “How is the high ISO performance?” I’m one of the guilty parties, since I do most of my shooting with available light. And then the sample images come out, followed by the first shots of the early adopters. Finally, the DXOMark of the camera is published and that camera’s