{"id":634515,"date":"2026-04-27T17:35:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T17:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/634515\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T17:35:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T17:35:10","slug":"tokina-pulls-photo-contest-winner-after-reddit-claims-it-was-ai-generated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/634515\/","title":{"rendered":"Tokina Pulls Photo Contest Winner After Reddit Claims it Was AI-Generated"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AThis image initially won the annual competition but was later pulled. <\/p>\n

Lens manufacturer Tokina<\/a> has pulled the overall winner of its 2025 monthly photo contest after a \u201cviolation of the contest rules.\u201d <\/p>\n

It comes after a Reddit post last week titled \u201cLens maker Tokina falls for AI image in photo competition,\u201d which called out the winning image and admonished Tokina for not realizing the photo is allegedly a fake. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhether this is a completely false photo or heavily upscaled, this is just unacceptable and shameful for a camera lens company to award,\u201d reads the post<\/a> that was shared to r\/cameras. <\/p>\n

\"AnScreenshot of the initial announcement. | Reddit <\/p>\n

Tokina seemingly reacted to the Reddit post and replaced the winning image with a photo by Lee Nuttall. Every month there is a chosen winner, but this award recognizes the best shot from all 12 winners from 2025. It is chosen by \u201call employees who are involved in developing manufacturing, logistics, and selling Tokina lenses.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cPreviously announced overall winner\u2019s work was disqualified due to the violation of the photo contest rules,\u201d Tokina writes on its website<\/a>. \u201cOur apologies for this happening [sic]. We will reconsider the selection process by establishing additional checkpoints before making final judgments.\u201d<\/p>\n

PetaPixel has reached out to Tokina to clarify what exactly the violation was.<\/p>\n

Is it Really an AI Image? <\/p>\n

The image has an invisible SynthID watermark, which means it was either entirely AI-generated by Google Gemini\u2019s Nano Banana Pro, or it was significantly altered by one of Google\u2019s photo editing tools like Magic Editor.<\/a> <\/p>\n

\"AAs well as the SynthID, the Reddit user also highlighted the inconsistencies in the image. But not all of them are as they appear: the man standing second left looks like he is wearing a strange mask at first glance, but it\u2019s actually a baseball cap pulled down low with a second piece of headwear on top. <\/p>\n

Many of the commenters on the Reddit post, who are presumably photographers, agree that the image is AI-generated. The Phoblographer<\/a> also condemned the judges for not asking for the RAW files. But not everyone is certain it\u2019s fabricated. <\/p>\n

One Redditor points out<\/a> that the SynthID watermark could indicate that the photographer replaced the clouds, removed an object, or upscaled it, fairly normal edits that photographers make to their images on apps like Lightroom and Photoshop, the difference is that if the photographer did use one of Google\u2019s photo editing tools, it automatically adds the SynthID to show that AI was used. <\/p>\n

That same Redditor also shared a video from the photographer\u2019s YouTube page, which appears to be the same scene as the photo. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The photographer, Abu Elias, is from Oman and regularly shares stunning nature photographs that look genuine. According to his social media<\/a>, he has won other photography awards. PetaPixel has reached out to Elias for clarification. <\/p>\n

If the above video was taken around the same time as the photo that initially won the Tokina contest, then it seems plausible that the photographer replaced the sky, as the video was taken during daytime hours when the Sun was near meridian, while the photo shows the Sun setting. <\/p>\n

This article will be updated if and when PetaPixel hears back from the relevant parties. <\/p>\n